Hidden in the Elements
by DuskW
Summary: At age 4 Naruto meets Kazuma, a toseinin who is looking to enter the upcoming Chunin exams.  Their meeting will form a bond that will help both realize their goals in the face of their greatest enemies. No pairings yet, but later on.
1. Chapter 1

Ok this is my first Naruto fic, I hope that you enjoy. Leave some reviews and let me know what you think, also I promise to pick up on the action but I had to set up my characters for right now. Anyway I in now way own Naruto. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 1

The wind blew through the trees near the entrance to Konohagakure, traffic through the entrance was calm and moving smooth. Two chunin, Kaito and Toya, were monitoring the people going in and out, fellow Konoha shinobi, citizens and travelers. No one seemed out of the ordinary and the two were feeling that their day was going to be an easy one, that is until they saw someone coming in the distance.

The approaching traveler looked to be a boy in his mid-teens, he wore a straw traveling hat that covered the upper part of his face, a brown traveling cloak draped down to below his waist, but what really caught the guards attention was the sword on his back and kunai holsters on both of his legs. The boy reached the entrance and proceeded straight to the booth the chunin were standing at. Toya stepped out from the booth while Kaito stayed where he was.

"Passport please." Kaito asked. The boy produced his passport and handed it over. Kaito looked it over, Toya asked him to remove his hat. The traveler complied and removed his hat, he had black hair that partially covered his dark green eyes. Toya noticed the white stripe of hair that went from the back of the boys head to the front, so that the hair over his right eye was white. The headband he wore had a blank metal plate.

"Your passport doesn't list a permanent residence, why is that?" Kaito asked while review the passport.

"There's no reason to be concerned with that I'm not a nuke-nin or a criminal, you can check in the bingo book if you want. I'm just a tosei-nin, a simple wanderer." The boy replied. Kaito took out the bingo book kept at the station and looked to see if the boy was indeed in it.

"Tosei-nin huh, that's just the same as being a nuke-nin." Toya said.

"Just because I don't swear an allegiance to any village does not make me any less a shinobi than you." The boy replied coldly to Toya's remark, giving him a cold look.

Kaito put the book away and spoke up, "You're not listed in any wanted section for our village so there is no problem. However you're passport doesn't give your clans name, care to explain that."

"It's a family tradition to choose a name for yourself, but since it's a chosen name I only use the one my father gave me on my passport."

"Alright then" Kaito looked at the name on the passport, "Kazuma, what business does a tosei-nin have here in Konoha?"

Kazuma twirled his hat on his finger and answered, "To take the upcoming Chunin exam of course."

The two guards gave him an exasperated look. "And who exactly gave you permission to take the exam?" Toya asked. "Only approved genin can apply for the exam."

Kazuma produced a piece of paper from his cloak and handed it over to Kaito. "This is a form I was given allowing me to participate and" he produced a second paper, "this is to show where I stand with Konoha."

Kaito examined both forms and was shocked to see whose seal was on them. He handed them over to Toya, who had some expertise in seals, and he too was shocked. Toya preformed some jutsus to verify the authenticity of the seals and when he was finished handed them back to Kazuma. "I guess there's no problem seeing that the documents are real, but how did you get them?"

"That's simple; the Yondaime was a friend of my father and uncle."

"Alright then, are you traveling alone?" Kaito asked as he made a note in the station log.

"I do have a traveling companion but she should have gotten here before me."

"Very well then you can move along." Toya said as he moved aside to let Kazuma pass. Kazuma took back his passport and documents and began to walk into the village. As he put his hand back on he gave a small bow and said respectfully, "Thanks for all your hard work." And continued on. Toya rejoined Kaito in the booth and watched the tosei-nin leave, both wondering if a tosei-nin could pass the exam.

Kazuma walked along taking in the sights of Konoha, this wasn't his first time here but it had been a while. The last time he was here was at least seven years ago, _Hayato-ojisan had brought me here for a job back during the war._ Kazuma thought to himself as the memories came back to him. _Hard to believe so much could change in just seven years. At least this village still seems nice enough._ Kazuma was happy to see the villagers going about their business, a sense of normalcy that he didn't have in his life on the road. He continued to walk toward the residential area of the village. Even though he was a tosei-nin he had apartments in some villages, which were left to him by his uncle, including one here in Konoha.

"I'm pretty sure it was around here." He muttered to himself as he looked around at the different apartment buildings that surrounded him. Standing around looking he was surprised when a small boy crashed into him, knocked him down and then took off again around a corner. A few moments later a group of men came charging down, going in the same direction that the small boy just ran. "What was that about?"

Not one to ignore his curiosity Kazuma followed the group's trail, arriving at a closed off alleyway. Peering inside Kazuma was shocked by what he saw, the group of men were kicking the poor kid who was lying on the ground curled into a ball. The word monster was thrown around a few times. Kazuma clenched his fists and walked into the alley, the men froze as they felt the killing intent flow through the alley.

"Does it really take ten grown men to beat up a defenseless kid?" Kazuma spit out, causing the men to turn around to face him.

"This doesn't concern you stranger." One of the men said.

"You don't know anything about this monster." Another said and pointed at the child on the ground, who was now crawling into the corner of the alley trying to protect himself.

Kazuma's head was bowed down so that his hat hid his face, "I think this does concern me, since I only see a kid and no monster." He took a step forward but the men didn't move, apparently the initial fear had left them. In fact one of them walked up to Kazuma and put his hand on his shoulder in a friendly way.

"Listen nii-chan you don't want any part of this, so why don't you just go about your business and forget you saw anything." The man, who looked well built, spoke implying that if Kazuma didn't turn around and leave then he would share the same fate as the kid.

He looked the man in the eyes, smiled and roundhouse kicked him right in the gut. The big man flew into the wall and crumbled to the ground. This time it was the group of men who were shocked. "Teme what do you think you're doing?" One of them yelled, a fat man with a thick beard. Kazuma looked in his direction and ran toward him. The fat man tried to duck but Kazuma's fist connected with his face and down went the fat man.

"Two down eight to go." Kazuma pulled off his best expression of an insane maniac and from the way the other idiots were scrambling around it looked like it worked. He went to town on the remaining men, one he kicked in the head, another he grabbed and threw at two who were coming at him. He jump kicked one of the men in the chest and then launched him self at another using the man's chest as a spring board.

In a few minutes Kazuma was standing with his foot on one of the men's back who was knocked out like the others. "Let that be a lesson to not pick on kids when I'm around assholes." He kicked the big man again and went over to check on the kid, who was still cowering in the corner. Not wanting to scare him further Kazuma took off his hat and kneeled down so that the kid could see his face.

"Hi my name's Kazuma, but my friends call me Kazu." Kazuma smiled and slowly reached out his hand hoping the kid would take it. "What's your name?" The kid slowly turned so that Kazuma could see his face, it looked like the baka mob (which Kazuma now called the group knocked out on the ground) had done a good job of messing the boy up. The boy had blood staining his blond hair, one of his blue eyes was swollen shut and the other had a nasty bruise around it and his lip looked like it had been split open as well.

If Kazuma was angry when he saw the baka mob attack the poor boy he was furious now that he saw the extent of the job. As if picking up on the anger Kazuma was feeling the boy tried to retract further away from him, Kazuma realizing what he was doing quickly waved his hands apologizing. "Oh hey don't worry I'm not mad at you, I'm just pissed at those bakas for hurting you." He motioned with his hand for the boy to relax. "So how about telling me your name and we'll see about getting you fixed up, ok?"

The boy looked Kazuma in the eye and said, "Nii-chan you've got funny looking hair." Kazuma was taken back, did the scared, beat up little kid just crack a joke? Kazuma laughed at the crack about his hair and the boy laughed too. When the two stopped the boy was sitting on the ground, relaxed and letting Kazuma check his wounds. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto."

Kazuma was finishing wiping the blood off Naruto's face when he finally shared his name. Kazuma took his hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you Naruto-kun." Naruto shook back and also returned the smile that Kazuma shared with him. After a few minutes, and a few extra kicks to the baka mob, Kazuma was walking Naruto back to his apartment. When asked where he lived Naruto explained that he lived in an apartment close to here. Kazuma talked in a way that didn't give the impression that he was pressing for information, he asked Naruto about his parents which he didn't answer. When asked why he was being chased Naruto simply said, "That's how my day always is."

"What about your parents?" Was the next question. The answer was just as disturbing.

"I don't have any."

While they walked along Kazuma couldn't believe that this kid could be treated this way all the time. _What happened to this being such a nice, peaceful village?_ Kazuma thought to himself. As he looked Naruto over he could tell that the abuse probably went further than what he saw. Naruto's clothes, a white t-shirt and navy blue shorts, were tattered and dirty. Why was this kid having such a hard life, he couldn't have done anything to deserve this treatment.

The hits just kept coming as the two walked into Naruto's apartment. Apartment failed to describe what Kazuma was seeing; here he was standing in a single room, a cot in one corner, a dresser that wasn't even filled with clothes against the wall and the door they had come in. This was insane, how could Naruto live like this? Taking everything in Kazuma had enough; he took Naruto's hand and led him out of there.

Naruto cocked his head to the side puzzled, "Where are we going Kazuma-nii-chan?"

Kazuma led him a few blocks away, picked him up and leapt up the side of a building. He jumped from building to building until they were standing on the roof top of an apartment building. Kazuma put Naruto, who was again shaken up for the second time that day, down and walked toward a door leading inside. With no way down Naruto followed him into the building; they didn't walk far as Kazuma stopped at one of the apartments and unlocked the door stepping inside. Naruto stood at the threshold and peered inside.

"Make yourself at home Naruto-kun." Kazuma was taking off his cloak and laying it on a chair. The clothes he wore underneath the cloak were a pair of black pants, with black sandals. He was also wearing a white t-shirt under a dark green denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up and the kanji for tiger was written on the back in black.

Naruto was still confused as to why he was so swiftly led from his own home to here, no one had every brought him to their place except for Hokage-ji-chan. "Kazuma-nii-chan why…"

"Why did I bring you here? That's easy to answer," Kazuma walked back over to Naruto and brought himself to the boy's eye level again, "you're going to live here now. Not a problem is it?"

Naruto shook his head, of course it wasn't a problem, after all who wouldn't accept an offer to move out of the bowels of hell. Kazuma stood back up and stepped aside so Naruto could walk around. The apartment was laid out with a living room that connected to a walk in kitchen. A window opened, which Naruto's apartment lacked any, looked out over the village giving a great view of the Hokage Monument. On opposite ends were two bedrooms, Kazuma explained that he and his uncle used to stay here when they visited the village thus they needed two bedrooms.

Naruto was checking everything out and was actually feeling happy, an emotion you rarely felt when you were the village's whipping boy. Kazuma was sitting in a chair in the living room watching Naruto look at everything when a white blur shot through the window and collide with his head. A young feminine voice yelling, "Kazu-nii!" caught Naruto's attention, that and Kazuma tumbling to the floor. When he got over to where Kazuma fell he stumbled back as Kazuma rose quickly to his feet holding by the scruff of its neck what looked like a cat. Looking closer the cat was white and had black stripes, and even weirder was that it was arguing with Kazuma.

"That hurt baka tora." Kazuma said while rubbing the side of his head.

"Not my fault if you couldn't avoid it." The cat shot back.

"That doesn't mean you try to tackle me every time you come back damn it."

"Kazu-nii you're just mad because I got here first."

"No Kira I'm mad because you blind sided me again." Kazuma dropped Kira and she landed in front of Naruto. She growled at the sudden drop but quickly turned her attention to Naruto when he spoke up.

"Neh Kazuma-nii-chan what's with the neko?"

Kazuma laughed, not at Naruto's question but at the shocked look Kira had from being called neko.

"I am a nin-tora, not some loser house cat." Kira growled out.

"Naruto-kun this is my partner Kira. Like she said she's a nin-tora."

Naruto was amazed with Kira, he had never seen a tiger before let alone one that could talk. Kira leapt up onto and lay down over Kazuma's shoulder. "So who's the kid Kazu-nii?"

"This is Uzumaki Naruto and he's going to be staying in the apartment with us."

"Why's that now?" Kira asked, and Kazuma told her everything that Naruto had shared with him. After the talk Kira jumped from Kazuma's shoulder to in front of Naruto. She looked him over and Naruto noticed she had the same green eyes that Kazuma had. She gave him a sniff and apparently satisfied with something turned and jumped up onto the seat she knocked Kazuma out of. "It's ok with me if Naru-chan stays here."

"I'm so glad he meets your approval." Kazuma said sarcastically.

Naruto pointed a finger at Kira and yelled at her, "Don't call me Naru-chan baka-neko."

Kira's fur rose and she shot back, "Don't call me baka-neko _Naru-chan_."

As the two of them continued to argue Kazuma walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table retrieving a scroll from his pouch. "So good that those two are getting along." He unfurled the scroll and looked over its contents, finding the right part he performed a few hand seals and small cloud of smoke puffed up from the scroll. When the smoke cleared standing on top of the scroll were a few bottles. Kazuma picked them up and walked back out to the living room, in which various insults were being thrown and a few words that Kazuma didn't think that a 4 year old should know.

"How about we call a truce here," Kazuma cut in, "I've got something for you Naruto-kun." Naruto looked to see what he was being given and was quickly confused when Kazuma handed over the bottles.

"What are these?" Naruto asked while he looked at the bottles. Kazuma led him to the one door that he didn't mention in the quick tour.

"These are for you to use in here." Kazuma opened the door to the bathroom and he pointed to the shower. "Shampoo and soap, take a shower, get cleaned up and then I'll take a closer look at those wounds you got." Kazuma opened a cabinet to show where the towels were. He showed Naruto how to work the shower and then he left him alone to clean up.

Kazuma went back into the living room and sat down next to Kira. Her tail twitched, which Kazuma knew was a sign she wanted to talk about something. So he talked, "You have something you want to say Kira?" Kira leapt from here chair to Kazuma again taking her favorite spot over his shoulder.

"You know Naru-chan has a familiar scent don't you?"

"I actually picked up on it from his blood, looks like me and the boya have some things in common."

"He's different from you though Kazu-nii."

"Yeah well not a lot of people share in my unique situation."

Kira moved down to Kazuma's lap so that she could see his face, "So what happens next?" Kazuma grinned, picked her up and put her on his shoulder. He walked into one of the bedrooms and went digging around in the dresser. "First we're going to get something to eat." He pulled out some clothes that he thought might fit Naruto from when he was younger. "After we get some food we pay the Hokage a visit and get registered for the exam. Simple right."

"Sure if you're planning to avoid the groups from Elements."

Kazuma stopped rummaging through the dresser. "What groups, I didn't think they would actually show up?"

"Looks like it's going to be a family reunion."

Kira's joke stung a little, _So their going to honor Tou-san's wishes after all, maybe there is hope for them after all._ Kazuma thought to him self as he threw a T-shirt and shorts onto the bed.

The sound of the shower stopped and Naruto walked out covered in a towel. Once he was dry and dressed Naruto let Kazuma take a closer look at his wounds. Kazuma was surprised that the cuts and bruises were already healing. _He heals pretty quickly for a kid._ He thought as he put a few bandages on Naruto.

With the first aid finished Kazuma asked Naruto if there was any place he wanted to eat. "Your treat Kazuma-nii-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, if the place you pick is any good." Kazuma teased as all of them left the apartment and began walking down the street. After a couple of minutes Naruto had lead Kazuma right to his favorite restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen. Kazuma smirked as the kid flashed a foxy grin and took a seat. Kazuma took a seat next to him, with Kira still on his shoulder. The smell of the stand definitely told Kazuma that the food was going to be good.

"Oi ji-chan I'd like a large pork ramen please." Naruto ordered. The cook looked up from what he was doing and looked Naruto over. A mix sight of sadness and joy showed on his face. Kazuma guessed that the man was a friend of Naruto's and didn't like seeing him banged up as he was.

"So is the food here any good?" Kazuma asked gaining the cook's attention.

With a humph the cooked answered, "There's not a better ramen stand in country than what you see before you. Plus you've got the biggest ramen fan sitting with you to vouch for that." Teichu nodded to Naruto, who grinned from the praise. _Looks like everyone isn't so hard on the kid._ Kazuma thought after observing how Teichu interacted with Naruto.

"Well then I'll have a large miso ramen myself." Was Kazuma's order.

"Beef ramen for me please." Kira purred with out gaining any reaction from Teichu.

A few minutes later three bowls of ramen were set before the three, Kazuma put Kira's on the ground so she could eat it easier. As they ate their meal Naruto was asking Kazuma all sorts of questions about what he's seen and where he's been, what kind of jutsu he knew and plenty of other questions. Kazuma answered some of the questions, mainly people and places his met and been, but he told Naruto that a ninja shouldn't go around telling people what kind of jutsu they used so easily. Apparently Naruto didn't take to not being told and ordered another bowel.

"Hope you have enough cash on you nii-chan." Teichu joked as he served up another bowl for Naruto. Kazuma laughed and ordered another bowl for himself and Kira, "Come one Teichu-san how much could a 4 year old possibly eat?"

Six bowls later and a wallet much lighter than it was Kazuma, Naruto and Kira were on the move again, this time heading toward the Hokage's Tower. Kazuma looked at his empty wallet and then down at the grinning boy at his side, _Who would believe that a 4 year old could wolf down eight large bowls of ramen?_ He shook his head letting the thought go.

"Ne Kazuma-nii-chan why are we going to Hokage-ji-chan's place?" Naruto asked.

Kazuma ruffled his hair, "I have to meet with Hokage-dono and turn in my registration papers to take the Chunin Exam." Naruto nodded and followed along as they started climbing up the stairs of the building. As they entered the building a person in a hooded trench coat passed by them on his way out, the person looked to be close to Kazuma's height. Kazuma caught a quick glance of the person and grinned knowing who was hidden under the hood.

"Nice to see you again." Kazuma said as they passed by.

The hooded person stopped, "I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else."

"You could be right, I apologize _ANBU-dono_." Kazuma smirked and continued on his way followed by Naruto and Kira. The ANBU member was joined by two others who were looking back at the leaving trio. The two of them stood taller than their comrade.

"Do you know that boy?" One of them asked. The smaller one pulled back his hood, his silver gray hair sticking up over the dog shaped mask on his face. "Just someone I worked with once."

After the little meeting they were standing in front of the Hokage's office. Kazuma knocked on the door and entered after hearing "Come in." come from the other side of the door. Sitting at his desk the Sandaime Hokage looked up and smiled as he saw Naruto come in. "Naruto-kun what can I do for you today?"

"Actually I am the one that needs to meet with you Hokage-dono." Kazuma said as he followed in behind Naruto. Kazuma bowed in front of the Hokage, "It's been too long Sandaime-dono."

"It certainly has Kazu-kun. I've heard rumors about you from time to time you know." The Hokage had taken out his pipe and began puffing away.

"I assure you most of them are unsubstantiated rumors."

"Oh still being modest are you?" The Hokage chuckled, "That's good to know, now I take it you're here to participate in the Chunin exam correct."

"Hai Hokage-dono."

"Of course as you realize Tosei-nin have no standing with any village, so they are not ranked officially."

"I do understand my situation Hokage-dono, but I still wish to participate."

The Hokage letting out a stream of smoke from his lungs, and smirked as Naruto held his nose and waved the smoke away, "Because we are the hosting village I can allow anyone to enter who wishes, but the test is to be taken in a three man team." Kazuma looked anguished; he didn't think that he would have to participate in a team. He was shaken from his worries though as the Hokage cleared his throat to regain his attention. "Luckily for you Kazu-kun I received word that your brother and sisters would be participating this year. So knowing that you would surely follow I have some teammates for you to meet." The Hokage looked over at the door, "Send them in."

In walked a boy and a girl and both looked Kazuma over, as he did the same with them. The boy had dark brown hair that was crew cut and brown eyes, he wore dark brown pants, black t-shirt and a brown sleeveless trench coat. His right arm was bandaged, but it didn't look like he wore them because of any injury. The girl had light brown that was tied back in a ponytail and light green eyes, she wore long black boots, green skirt, white t-shirt and a green short sleeved jacket. She also wore protective braces on both of her arms.

"Yamatori Shunsei and Yamatori Tatsuki," the Hokage spoke with authority now gaining everyone's attention, "allow me to introduce you to your new teammate on Team 4." Kazuma stepped forward, with Kira on his shoulder. "Kaze no Kazuma nice to meet you."


	2. Chapter 2

OK here we go with chapter 2, a little action for everybody to enjoy. As usual leave a review and let me know what you think. Now the disclaimer. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 2

The meeting in the Hokage's office for the newly formed Team 4 was going extremely well, extremely well down the toilet. Shunsei and Tatsuki were both voicing complaints, or more accurately Tatsuki was doing the talking for them, about having someone on their team that they have never met before. Kazuma on the other hand just stood on the spot where he had introduced himself.

"Hokage-sama he's not even from Konoha, how can we work on a team with someone that doesn't even belong to our village?" Tatsuki said and Shunsei nodded in agreement.

"Also Hokage-sama," Shunsei began, "how do we know this tosei-nin is not on a mission to infiltrate Konoha?"

The Hokage chuckled as the two offered other various reasons why Kazuma shouldn't be put on their team. "Well it is good to know that you are so protective of our fine village, but I can assure you that Kazuma-kun here is very trust worthy. His family has been allies with Konoha and Kazuma-kun himself has fought beside our shinobi during the Great War."

Kazuma scratched the back of his head, not comfortable with being praised like he was, when Tatsuki suddenly got right in his face looking at him carefully. Kazuma eased back not exactly sure why the girl was getting so close to him. After a few moments of close inspection Tatsuki turned back to the Hokage while pointing a finger at Kazuma.

"Hokage-sama there is no way he could have fought during the war." Tatsuki said, "He's only about our age and would have been way too young to fight."

Tatsuki's indignant assumption on his past record made Kazuma finally speak up against the accusations. "If you really want to know Yamatori-san I did indeed fight in the war along side my uncle and on occasion we fought for Konoha." This time Kazuma got in Tatsuki's face, "And for your information age doesn't matter on the battlefield, you pick up a weapon and you're as fair game as any other combatant."

Before the arguing could pick up any more steam and continue on between the two the Hokage again cleared his throat regaining their attention. "Whether you approve or not does not matter, this is an order. Kaze no Kazuma, Yamatori Shunsei, Yamatori Tatsuki," At the sound of their names the three stood at attention, "you three are now a three man team I expect you to work accordingly."

"Hai." All three said together.

"Good now there's no need to reassign a jounin sensei so Miyate Saito will continue to look over your team." As the Hokage finished speaking a man appeared kneeling at his side, he wore a standard jounin uniform with his hitaie tied across his forhead, his black hair was long and tied into a ponytail that went down to between his shoulders and he wore a katana sheathed on his back.

Saito rose from his kneeling position, "Well now I guess we'll have to get to know one another all over again since it's a new Team 4. Let's move up to the roof to continue this meeting." Saito spoke in a half hearted way. He bowed to the Hokage and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving his charges in a disgruntled mood.

"So nii-chan let's get going." Naruto, who had managed to actually stay quiet the whole time, said and bounced out of the chair he was sitting in. Kazuma turned to look down at him and noticed the looks that his two new teammates were giving the young boy. The looks were ones of hate and disgust, again Kazuma thought to himself why this boy was the source of such scorn. He chanced a quick glance at the Hokage and was pleased to see that the same look did not adorn his features.

Not wanting to expose Naruto to any negative actions Kazuma knelt down and ruffled Naruto's hair, "Actually Naruto-kun why don't you and Kira go play and wait for me to finish up." Naruto's face wrinkled into disapproval, he didn't want to be left out of anything that was going on now. "Come on don't make that face it's going to be a really boring meeting any way." Naruto crossed his arms and looked away and Kazuma sighed, _This kid is really stubborn_. "Ok Naruto-kun I'll show you something cool when I'm finished with the meeting ok?" Naruto looked back at Kazuma and grinned a devilishly foxy grin and Kazuma knew that he had just been played by a 4 year old.

"You're a real softy aren't ya Kazu-nii?" Kira got her little jab in as she hopped off Kazuma's shoulder.

"Just keep an eye on Naruto-kun Kira and I'll see the two of you later."

Naruto and Kira said their good-byes and ran out the door, soon followed by the new Team 4 after having excused themselves from the Hokage's office. The three new teammates made their way up to the roof of the tower, no one talking on the way. As they arrived on the roof they found Saito leaning against the railing looking out over the village. When he noticed their arrival he turned to face them, having already trained Shunsei and Tatsuki he was more curious about Kazuma. He had heard rumors and stories about the young tosei-nin, but such information didn't really provide a clear picture of who a person really was.

"Ok my eager young pupils I have some good news for you." Saito began right off the bat, "Kazuma should already know since it's the reason he has been assigned to the team but I have signed you up for the up coming Chunin Exam."

"You register us for something so important and expect us to work with a complete stranger," Tatsuki said, "that's practically giving us a handicap isn't it?"

"Are you saying I would slow you down Yamatori-san?" Kazuma quipped.

Tatsuki shot him a disapproving look and said, "Of course you would."

"Easy, easy now you two," Saito held up his hands trying to settle his students down, "you're not going to be going right into the exam without having learned anything about each other. So that's why we're going to do introductions right now." He pointed to Shunsei, who was the only one remaining quiet. "Shunsei you start off."

Shunsei let out a sigh and started, "Yamatori Shunsei, I like my job and hobbies, my goal isn't really a big deal. That's all I have to say."

Saito shook his head and pointed to Tatsuki next. "Yamatori Tatsuki, my likes include raising the chicks in our hatchery, my family and learning new code ciphers. My hobbies include training with the grown birds we raise. My goal is to learn all I can about ciphers and avian life." Tatsuki finished saying.

"Ok that just leaves you Kazuma." Saito said rounding toward Kazuma.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself as well Saito-taicho?"

"Not really."

_He said it so casually that it pisses me off._ Kazuma thought before he started his introduction. "Well my name is Kaze no Kazuma, but my friends call me Kazu. My likes would include some of my family, training, and traveling. I don't have any hobbies, but for goals I guess it would be to become a shinobi like my father."

"Ok so now that introductions are out of the way I suppose I should tell you all about your first mission together."

"We have a mission already, but we were just made a team how can we possibly…" Tatsuki stopped talking when Saito held up his hand right in front of her.

"You really need to work on keeping calm Tatsuki, now let me finish talking." Tatsuki grudgingly stuffed her hands in her pockets and kept quiet while Saito continued. "Your first mission is going to be survival training." He produced two bells from his pocket and held the bells by the string attached to them. "You two should already know what these are for," Saito motioned toward Shunsei and Tatsuki, "so you can fill Kazuma in later. Tomorrow morning at 8AM report to training ground four for a little teamwork training." Saito whipped the bells back into his hand, "Ok that's it see you tomorrow." And with that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke without another word.

With the meeting apparently over the three began to leave. As they walked back down the tower Kazuma broke the silence with a question, "So do either of you know Naruto-kun?"

Tatsuki and Shunsei stopped and looked back at their new teammate. Surprisingly it was Shunsei who spoke first, "No we do not, why do ask?"

"It's just that it's been bothering me that the boy is getting such disapproving stares from people and I wonder why. As for why I asked it's because the two of you gave him the same harsh looks when you realized he was in the office."

"Listen the kid is just trouble," Tatsuki added, "so of course he's going to get disapproving looks from people."

"I find it hard to believe he's deserving of what I've seen him treated too. You say he's trouble, but in what way?"

"I am sorry Kaze-san," Shunsei said, "but the reason has been decreed a secret in Konoha. I am sure you understand." With a stern look to Tatsuki he began walking again. Tatsuki looked back at Kazuma, "Sorry but that's how it is." And followed after Shunsei.

_Well as cryptic as that was it was insightful._ Kazuma thought as he began his descent again. _A reason decreed secret in Konoha means it has something to do with the village's past, but it has to be tied to Naruto's past as well._ The sound of laughter and growling of a certain boy and tiger however pulled Kazuma away from his musings as he reached the bottom of the Hokage Tower. Rolling around on the ground playing were Naruto and Kira. A grin played its way across Kazuma's face as he watched the two wrestle on the ground. _I suppose all I can really do is investigate as much as I possible, Naruto deserves that much at least._

"Hey you two lets get going we've got an early start tomorrow." Kazuma yelled to Naruto and Kira. The two stopped in mid struggle and got up off the ground and ran toward Kazuma.

Kira leapt up onto Kazuma's shoulder and settled down, "What's this early start business, I thought we didn't have anything to do until the exam?"

"And you said you were going to show me something really cool too nii-chan." Naruto also added in as they walked back to their apartment.

"It's scary that you two are working in tandem like this." Kazuma said with a laugh. "First thing is that since I've been put on a team we have to learn to work together, so that means training and doing a few missions together." He said to Kira and then addressed Naruto's complaint, "As for showing you something cool, how about coming to watch the training session tomorrow? I'm sure you'll have a blast."

"Really I can come watch?" Naruto asked and after receiving a nod yes from Kazuma he tackled the older boy saying thank you over and over again. Naruto's attitude was infectious to the other two for the rest of the night, everyone was in good spirits and eagerly looking forward to tomorrow.

When it came time for bed Kazuma put a dozing Naruto into his bed. _It's amazing that this ball of energy can be so quiet right now._ Kazuma thought as he got ready for bed himself. Before he went to sleep Kazuma checked the equipment he was planning on taking tomorrow, satisfied he packed it away and flopped down onto his bed. The day proved to be eventful; meeting Naruto, registering for the exam and joining a new team. _Tomorrow probably will be just as busy too._ He thought as he drifted off to sleep.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The early morning sun shone over the trees and down onto the village of Konoha, already people were going about there business. Three people in particular were running through the streets, well two people and a tiger to be specific. It was 7:30 in the morning and they weren't running because they were late, Kazuma was making everyone run as a warm up for whatever kind of training was going on today. As they ran Kazuma was surprised that he didn't have to slow down so much for Naruto to keep up with him.

It didn't take them long to reach their destination, training ground four which was an open field surrounded of course by a tree line. Surveying the area Kazuma noted that there was a small body of water close by as well. He also noticed that his teammates had already arrived. Before joining them he turned to Naruto, "Ok Naruto-kun you wait here out of the way." He held up his hand just before Naruto could complain, "You'll be able to see everything from here and you'll also be out of harms way. Also Kira is going to stay and keep an eye on you."

"How come I get left out of the action Kazu-nii?" Kira said obviously as annoyed as Naruto about the arraignment.

"Like I said you keep an eye on him, I don't know what exactly this training is going to include. Make sure that he doesn't get hurt. The other reason is that I want to keep some of our techniques among ourselves for the time being, no reason to show off everything just yet."

Kira sat on the ground, obviously sulking right along with Naruto. An accompanied "Fine." Was the response from both of them and Kazuma left them on the outskirts of the training grounds and joined Shunsei and Tatsuki.

"Morning Shunsei-san, Tatsuki-san." Kazuma greeted the two.

"Morning Kazuma-kun." Tatsuki replied back while Shunsei merely nodded his head in acknowledgement.

After a few minutes Saito showed up, strolling into the training grounds in his laid back fashion. The three genins stood before their sensei as he produced from his pocket the two bells he showed them yesterday. "As I said yesterday we're going to work on your teamwork. Shunsei and Tatsuki have already worked together and of course they know each other since their cousins, so I'm going to be changing the bell test around a little. Usually the three of you would come at me to try and retrieve the bells, but the underlying concept is to make you work as a team." Saito threw the bells to Kazuma, who caught them looking a little confused. "Here's where the test changes, instead of trying to get the bells from me you two" he pointed to Shunsei and Tatsuki, "have to get them from Kazuma."

"Wait a minute sensei that's dangerous isn't?" Tatsuki said. "All of us are genin, no matter how much experience we have if we attack each other for real someone will get hurt."

Saito let out a sigh, "That's why I'll be closely watching you three, if things get dangerous I'll step in. Now there is another reason why you're going to be fighting each other instead of me." The three listened intently as Saito continued, "This team has been put together to take the Chunin exam and you can't do that if you don't know what each of you is really capable of, so fighting each other this way let's you learn about your teammates strengths and weaknesses."

"Seems like an effective way to quickly get to know one another." Kazuma jokingly said, wondering if his squad leader was really insightful or just lazy.

"Well I guess if you're here it can't get to bad Saito-sensei." Tatsuki said.

Shunsei as usual did not have much to add and again just nodded his head in recognition. Saito backed away from his team and leaned against a tree, "You guys go until the bells are taken from Kazuma or I say stop. Ready." The three genins tensed and Kazuma tied the bells onto the hem of his jacket, "Go!" and with the signal Tatsuki and Shunsei leapt into the trees and hid themselves. Kazuma however stood his ground and didn't move. Instead he watched, listened and concentrated trying to find his hidden attackers.

Tatsuki and Shunsei watched Kazuma from the trees and readied themselves for an attack. From the tree branch he was on Shunsei threw some shuriken and watched as they flew toward Kazuma. The flying projectiles coming toward him Kazuma leapt out of the way drew a kunai from his pouch and threw it in the direction he saw the shuriken come from. However the kunai did not reach its target as another kunai came from a different direction and knocked it off course.

Kazuma now took to the trees and assessed the small skirmish. He could tell that so far all they had done was test each other, but he also learned that the cousins could cover for one another. The faint sound of leaves rustling caught Kazuma's attention, he silently moved toward the source of the noise.

Tatsuki had moved from her hiding place after deflecting Kazuma's kunai and had positioned herself in a bush, near where she thought she saw Kazuma move to. She removed from her pouch a brown bird's feather, which she put in her hair and a kunai. The movement to drawn the items did not go unnoticed as another of Kazuma's kunai cut through the bush striking the ground in front of her. She jumped from her hiding place and threw her kunai to help cover her escape. The sound of metal hitting metal told her that her weapon had been deflected. She turned around and saw Kazuma leaping from a tree.

Now in the open Tatsuki went through some hands seals, **Doton: Earth Spike Jutsu.** The ground where Kazuma was about to land erupted upward turning into pointed spears. Kazuma inhaled deeply and mixed the air with his chakra and expelled it toward the ground. The sudden burst of his chakra enriched breath allowed Kazuma to change his trajectory causing him not to land on the spikes.

"Pretty good Tatsuki-san, but you'll have to do better."

"You too but you should watch where you land." Tatsuki said as she had just finished another set of hand seals. **Doton: Mud Trap Jutsu.** The ground that Kazuma was standing on swallowed his feet, trapping him on the spot. He struggled to pull his feet out but they wouldn't come free. "Now we'll just put you to sleep for a bit," Tatsuki said as Shunsei emerged from a tree covering Kazuma just in case, "we don't want any trouble taking the bells."

"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to be overconfident, after all what would happen if I were to escape?"

"And how would you do that smart guy?" Tatsuki asked.

Kazuma took out another kunai, "Well all I have to do is ignite the gunpowder I dropped with the exploding note on this kunai." He threw the kunai at the spikes which if anyone looked closer had a good deal of black powder at the base. The kunai hit the ground and the exploding note exploded igniting the gunpowder. The ground shook and cracked and a cloud of smoke covered the field. Kazuma shot out of the cloud running for an open space, but he was closely followed by Shunsei.

Kazuma took a deep breath, again mixing the air he was taking into his lungs with chakra and expelled it into concentrated blasts. **Fuiton: Air Bullet jutsu**. Two blasts of concentrated air flew toward Shunsei who brought up his bandaged arm just as the blasts hit him. The resulting force from the impact pushed Shunsei back, but he was still standing. The blasts of air also caused the cloud of smoke to disperse showing Tatsuki no where in sight.

_These two really have working together down._ Kazuma thought, _One presses the attack while the other takes a shot from the vulnerable spots. Let's see what Shunsei-kun here can do._ Kazuma thought and unsheathed his katana. He took a stance holding the blade in front of himself and waited for Shunsei to make the first move. Shunsei rushed forward his bandaged arm, now with the bandages becoming loose and unraveled, back ready to swing. Kazuma prepared to move to counter the coming strike but found that his feet would not move. Looking down he saw the reason, Tatsuki had dug her way in the ground and come up right under Kazuma trapping his feet again in the ground.

Shunsei let a grin cross his face, despite his usually reserved personality he was sure this time the two of them would take the bells from Kazuma. The feeling however lasted for about a second as he dismissed the idea of certain victory. _Until the mission is complete any thing can happen, do not become over confident._ He instructed himself. All serious again he readied himself to take a swipe at Kazuma's mid section. Instead of moving to guard Kazuma brought his sword up over his head and thrust it into the ground.

As if hit by some greater force the ground buckled from impact as if it were hit with a larger object. The ground weakened Kazuma freed himself and dodged a swipe from Shunsei. Not letting the surprise of Kazuma's escape distract him Shunsei reared around and prepared to swipe at him again. Kazuma brought up his sword, flat side up, and parried the swipe with his blade.

"Showing compassion?" Shunsei asked as he gripped the blade.

"Remember this is just training after all, can't go cutting a teammates arm off." Kazuma replied and he kicked Shunsei in the stomach, causing him to let go of the sword. He leapt back and held his sword to the side. _**Fuuchihoen-ryu: Gale of Blades**_. Kazuma made numerous slashes and from the arcs of the slashes blades of chakra rushed forward.

Shunsei saw the wind kick up and the ground sliced as the blades made their way toward him. He had never seen a technique like this and jumped out of the way not wanting to see what it could do to him. The chakra blades collided with a tree and cut it to ribbons.

"What kind of technique was that?" Shunsei asked after seeing the results.

Kazuma rested his blade against his shoulder, "The ken-jutsu Fuuchihoen-ryu, I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. What I used earlier to get free was a technique called Air Gate and the one that did that," he pointed to the tree "was Gale of Blades."

"An impressive technique, but it is meaningless unless it can hit." Shunsei said.

"I've already said it before Shunsei-kun," Kazuma took his stance again, "it wouldn't look good if I cut my teammates to ribbons during a training session."

"You shouldn't waste time standing around talking either." Tatsuki broke in as she erupted from the ground holding feathers in her hands. She threw them at Kazuma who swiped at them with his sword. As he batted them away the feathers made a distinct metal on metal sound when they hit the blade. Tatsuki grinned devilishly at Kazuma's confused expression. "Yamatori women can infuse bird feathers with chakra and make them as hard as metal." She threw another round of feathers at Kazuma.

He knocked some away put two hit his shoulder and it definitely felt like knives piercing his flesh. There was no time to pull them out as Shunsei charged Kazuma. Now his right arm was visible through the bandaged wrappings, it was scaly looking but not like a lizard. It resembled a bird's scales and the black talons on the tip of the hand definitely did not look friendly. Kazuma blocked the attack holding his sword one handed, his other arm felt numb from the last attack.

Shunsei was relentless in his attack as he pushed Kazuma back on the defensive. Not having talons on his left hand Shunsei used a kunai to keep Kazuma from attacking. Kazuma ducked a swipe to his head from the talons and swept at Shunsei's legs. Shunsei leapt over the sweep and Tatsuki rushed from behind her cousin. She let loose another volley of her feather shuriken jutsu and Kazuma planted his sword into the ground and sped through hand seals.

**Fuiton: Wind barrier jutsu**. A gust of wind blew in front of Kazuma and knocked the lethal projectiles aside. He let out a breath he was holding while performing the jutsu, thankful that he got it off in time with his arm numb. The two cousins, however, did not give him much time to breath as Shunsei came down ready to rip into Kazuma with his talons and Tatsuki was working the hand seals for her earth spike jutsu again.

_Going to get a little rough now._ Kazuma thought as he grabbed his sword and took up another stance. This time he held the blade low and back, the tip pointing toward the ground, quickly he gathered his chakra along the blade and cut upward toward the sky. _**Fuuchihoen-ryu: Rising Twister.**_ Again the wind kicked up and took shape along the path of Kazuma's blade, a spiraling twister shot up and swallowed his two attackers. Tatsuki and Shunsei rose into the air spinning along with the strong wind until they reached the top of the spinning air tunnel, being shot out high above the ground.

"Uh-oh, I think I shot a little too high." Kazuma said as he watched his teammates leave the tornado he had created. The two Yamatoris however were thinking about surviving their landing as they began to fall back to the ground. They angled their bodies to slow down their velocity but they were still falling to fast. Kazuma sheathed his sword and performed hand seals. Again Kazuma performed his wind barrier jutsu, but this time instead of knocking something away he directed the wind to make a cushion. The cushion pocket of air allowed Tatsuki and Shunsei to land uninjured and almost immediately after their feet touched the ground they took their fighting stances again.

"Ok if that's how you want it I'm going to end this thing right now." Kazuma said watching the two get ready. The two watched as Kazuma's hand quickly shot down to his waist and then throw something toward them. When they saw what the objects flying toward them were Tatsuki and Shunsei grabbed them out of the air and looked at the bells they were supposed to steal in disbelief.

"There told you I was going to end it right now."


	3. Chapter 3

Well, well chapter 3 is up and ready, boy has it been a while. Sorry to anyone who is enjoying this story waiting for a new chapter, well hold on tight kiddies cause things are going to be heating up now. As always enjoy, read and leave a nice review about what you think, after all reviews make me want to write faster to get more reviews. Now disclaimer time.

Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. New characters, yo, credit goes over here.

Chapter 3

"What the hell kind of shinobi are you?" Tatsuki yelled, still griping the bell that Kazuma had thrown at her and Shunsei. Kazuma plopped himself on the ground panting, he finally removed the feathers from his shoulder and watched as they floated to the ground.

"That jutsu with the feathers is impressive Tatsuki-san; remind me to never get on your bad side." Kazuma joked, a little unaware that he was already getting on Tatsuki's bad side from not answering her question.

Tatsuki stomped toward Kazuma fuming at her new teammate, "Are you trying to make me madder by ignoring my question?"

"Well not really but I wanted to take those feathers out first, it kind of hurts being impaled you know." Kazuma's innocent tone just made Tatsuki even madder, and she looked it too with a stress mark bulging on the side of her head. She was about to throw more of her feather shurikens at Kazuma when Shunsei stepped in between the two.

The quieter Yamatori knelt down and looked Kazuma's wound over. "It was quite impressive how you deflected Tatsuki's attack, but apparently you weren't expecting the feathers to move as they did."

"I'm impressed as well, I didn't think either of you would have noticed the small wind current I used to knock the feathers off course."

Shunsei nodded as he applied a bandage to Kazuma's shoulder, "Just as the women of our clan have their own abilities so do the men." He motioned to his right arm.

"I take it that arm of yours isn't the only trick you're hiding then is it." Kazuma flexed his arm, moving it around feeling if the bandages were too tight or not, which they weren't. Shunsei held his hand out to help Kazuma up; Kazuma gladly accepted and rose to his feet to have Tatsuki right in his face yet again. Her eyes seemed to have a fire burning in them, and from the now multiple stress marks on her face Kazuma guessed that this was one girl that shouldn't be ignored.

"Explain now."

Kazuma backed up a step, hands held up, "Well I said I was going to end it so the only way I thought of without having to hurt the both of you severely was to just give you two the bells. Why did you want to try beating on me some more?" Kazuma asked with sarcasm, only to have Tatsuki's fist connect with his face. He fell back to the ground dropping his sword on the way.

"Baka, the whole point of this was for each of us to learn how the others operated in combat. You really think that going easy on us accomplishes that?" Tatsuki berated Kazuma as he sat on the ground rubbing his cheek.

True the point was for each of the genin to learn how their new team could function, but Kazuma thought that from the time they spent he had learned plenty. Apparently he was mistaken because most of his moves were defensive and none were particularly lethal in nature.

Kazuma got back up on his feet and looked Tatsuki in the eye, the anger that burned before was now replaced with look of contempt. It looked like he had a lot to learn about working with his new team. He was about to apologize, since he felt that there was some truth to him not measuring up to the standards of the test, when Saito finally decided to speak up.

"Ok everyone it looks like you've all hit on the basis of this little exercise nicely." Saito said, only to get mixed looks from his students. "What something wrong?" and then all three spoke at once.

"We don't feel that way at all." Team four said.

"I don't see why you would feel that way after all you met all the points of the exercise. I never said that you had to attack lethally; I said if anything got out of hand I would step in. Also you were all able to learn about each others combat styles weren't you?"

Team four looked at each other thinking back on their fight. They had shown their fighting styles to each other.

"The three of you should also have an idea as well as to what kind of person each of you are too." Saito said. "Kazuma made sure that none of his attacks would cause serious harm to his teammates. Shunsei and Tatsuki you two worked together knowing that one of you would cover for the other. I say the three of you have the makings of a fine team." Team four reflected on what their sensei said, of course some of them still felt that the performance of their teammates could have been better but they were just getting to know each other.

"All right then now that the test is over the three of you make up Team 4," Saito said, "you'll all participate together in the Chunin Exam in one week. Until then train yourselves well."

"Hai." The three of them said. Despite the quick addition Saito felt that his students would be alright during the exam, of course all he had to do was sit back and watch so he was going to enjoy himself. He told them that until the exam they would not be going on any missions and Saito also informed his genin when and where to take the test.

"So until then I'll be seeing you guys around." Saito prepared to leave but stopped when Kazuma asked him a question.

"Saito-taicho do you think you can recommend a good sword smith?" Kazuma asked.

Saito had already eyed Kazuma's blade and determined for himself that it needed to be repaired. Even before the Fuuchihoen user had attacked with the blade Saito saw that it was severely stressed. After watching Kazuma attack a few times he realized why the blade was in such disrepair.

"Sure I know somebody that can help with your particular problem."

Kazuma cocked his head to the side; the answer he got didn't make sense to him. "I don't have a problem I just need to find a sword smith to get some supplies."

"You work on your katana yourself?" Saito asked

Kazuma sheathed his katana, "It's only minor repairs most of the time and I did learn a little from a smithy I know."

"That's good a swordsman should know how to take care of their blade, otherwise they are undeserving of it."

"Wow that seems to be the most I've gotten out of you since I met you Saito-taicho, you always seem to be an unmotivated kind of guy." Kazuma said with a grin on his face. Saito gave him an impassive look, handed Kazuma a piece of paper with the smithy's address and disappeared quickly in a cloud of smoke. When they realized Saito was gone the three looked at each other, well Kazuma looked to Tatsuki and Shunsei. "Was it something I said?" Kazuma asked.

Kazuma was about to ask if he said something wrong when he was tackled to the ground. Tatsuki tried not to laugh while Shunsei shook his head and began to walk back toward the village. On top of Kazuma Kira and Naruto were both already speaking at once, Naruto saying how cool the fighting was and listing off all the things that he had seen and liked. While Kira was complaining just like Tatsuki had a little while ago listing off things that he could have done to actually win the fight.

"Ah would both of you get off please, you're kind of crushing me." Kazuma pleaded.

"Sorry." Naruto and Kira both said and jumped off his chest. Kazuma was a little surprised when Tatsuki offered him a hand up.

"Not mad at me anymore?" Kazuma asked

"Oh of course I'm still mad," Tatsuki said as she helped him up, "but watching you get blindsided makes me feel a little better." Tatsuki left after that and Kazuma noticed that his new teammates ignored Naruto on their way.

_I really have to find out what's up with everyone's attitude toward this kid._ Kazuma thought to himself as they walked back to the village themselves. From the training ground the group followed the directions Saito had written out and headed toward the shop where Kazuma could get his katana fixed. As they walked Naruto cheerfully continued to talk about the training exercise and to Kazuma's surprise the young boy was very attentive. Naruto recounted almost every part of the fight exactly as it had happened. Naruto also showed a little intuition when Kazuma asked him some questions on what he could know about the attacks.

"Ne Kazuma-nii-chan how did you make those big tornados?" Naruto asked while exaggerating with his arms wide open.

Kazuma laughed at the boy, his exuberance was contagious, and "How do you think I made the big tornados?"

At Kazuma's question Naruto scrunched up his face and crossed his arms pushing his little four year old mind to the limit. They continued to walk along in silence until Naruto aha-ed loud enough for everyone in the street to look at him. Kazuma looked down at him and waited for his answer.

"You made the big tornados with chatara." Naruto gave his answer proudly. So proudly in fact that Kazuma suppressed the urge to laugh at Naruto's mispronunciation of chakra, although Kira had no qualms about laughing at him what so ever and she laughed herself right off of Kazuma's shoulder.

"What's so funny baka-neko?" Naruto asked with an angered tone in his voice.

"You called it chatra." Kira somehow managed to say while laughing.

Watching the tiger cub roll around on the ground laughing at him Naruto turned his gaze up to Kazuma, searching for hope that he didn't make a mistake. When Kazuma saw the look on his face he ruffled Naruto's hair, "I know what you meant Naruto-kun, and just make sure you say chakra next time instead ok."

"Got it," Naruto said feeling better, "so was I right Kazuma-nii-chan?"

"Partially right," Kazuma picked up Kira, who was still laughing, so that they could continue on, "I did use chakra in my technique, but there was more to it than that."

Naruto scrunched up his face again, he was thinking so hard that he didn't even notice that they had arrived at the weapon shop. Entering the shop he was amazed at all the different type of weapons on display. There were show cases with different styles of kunai and shuriken, racks holding long lances and staffs stood in the middle of the shop and on the walls were mounted different types of swords and other melee weapons. Again Kazuma couldn't help himself but chuckle at the young boy as he moved from one thing to the next like a small hurricane.

While Naruto was inspecting the wares Kazuma went up to the counter and ringed a bell sitting there. A few minutes later a man stepped out from behind a curtain that apparently lead to the back of the shop. The man was older looking with his grey hair and mustache, plus the wrinkles didn't really scream young either. He gave a slight bow and grinned at his potential customer.

"Welcome, welcome to my shop where I can supply you with all the essentials you need. What can I assist you with today fine sir?"

Kazuma drew his katana from the sheath on his back and held it in his open palms. The store owner looked the blade over carefully, with the experience of many years in forging such weapons. The old man touched the blade and the smile left his face, "This blade has been through much in its short life." The old man's fingers ran down the blade slowly, his eyes closed. "I feel the fractures woven through the metal; the blade resonates sadly because of them."

"Can it be salvaged?" Kazuma asked.

The old shop owner removed his hand from the blade, "I'm afraid that it is beyond my skills to repair the damage it has received."

"I thought as much." Kazuma said to himself as he sheathed the katana.

"From what I can tell of your blade it is not very old," the old man spoke with a tone of interest, "what technique do you use to damage it so?"

"Kazuma-nii-chan used it to make big tornados." Naruto said deciding to join in on the conversation.

The old shop owner gave Naruto a quick wary look, but then focused his attention back on Kazuma. "Is this true what the boy says?"

"Of course it's true I saw it with my own eyes." Naruto said indignantly.

"And yet I did not ask you child," the old man said, "I wish to hear it from the young swordsman here."

Kazuma put his hand on Naruto shoulder, "What Naruto-kun here said is true."

A small grin played its way across the old man's face, which was a very disturbing sight to behold. "I have heard of swordsmen who command the wind with their blades. Would you be one of them?"

"It seems you know a lot oji-san." Kazuma replied. "My style is Fuuchihoen-ryu, I'm sure you've heard of it before."

For the first time since they entered the store the shop owner actually looked at his customers with wide eyes. "The Fuuchihoen-ryu is said to be one of the most deadly sword arts in the world. I understand now why your blade is damaged as it is." The shop owner stepped out from behind the counter and gestured for them to follow him. The old man led them to a wall bearing a collection of swords. "These are the finest blades that I have to offer see if any suit you."

Kazuma looked the selection over and it was true what the old man said, the blades were of an excellent grade. However he chose none of the swords the old man recommended. Perplexed by his decision the old man asked Kazuma why he chose none of the swords. He answered, "It would be too much of a waste if I were to use one of these blades. You saw what happened to the sword I showed you any of these would meet a similar fate."

The old shop keep stood solemnly beside his works, "It is a sad school that you follow, to destroy any sword you use."

Kazuma shook his head at the old shop keep's comment, "That's not entirely true." He clenched his left hand into a fist and looked at it. After the small talk Kazuma asked the shop keep about some blades that were durable enough for him. The old shop keep showed him some blades that, according to him, would outlast any blade he has used before. This time Kazuma chose a sword that he seemed to like, a katana with a fine edge and a balance that felt right to him.

Kazuma purchased the sword and turned his old one over to the shop keeper. When asked why Kazuma told him to make a new sword out of it and sell it to someone who would do it justice. Their business done the trio set out from the store into the midday flow of pedestrian traffic.

"Ah it always feels good to have a sword that I know isn't close to shattering. So how about lunch?" Kazuma said happily as they walked. Naruto and Kira both agreed, but when it came time to choose what to eat they were back to arguing. Never before has a battle been as epic as the choice between BBQ and ramen.

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

In the more mountainous region of Konoha the Yamatori clan made their home. It was in this region that they had suitable resources to raise and train the various birds that the village used for messaging, summons and various other reasons. The rocky terrain also had a fair abundance of sturdy trees that made up a perfect habitat for any species of bird that the Yamatori clan raised.

Tatsuki was sitting in her favorite tree on the compound, with her team's so-called training exercise finished she had returned home to work on her cryptography. Her father had given her a circular cipher that she was having trouble deciphering. A small robin rested on her shoulder chirping happily as she tried a new decryption strain.

"You're going to get wrinkles early in life if you keep scrunching your face up like that." A voice called out from the ground catching Tatsuki's attention. She peered over her branch and saw her mother standing underneath her holding up a wrapped package. "Why don't you come down and have some lunch."

She had to admit she was hungry, "Sorry little guy but I've got to go." Tatsuki told the robin and it hopped off her shoulder and flew away, probably to get its own lunch. She rolled up her scroll and dropped out of the tree, landing softly on the ground by her mother.

Tatsuki took the package her mother had for her and unwrapped it, "Thanks Mama this looks great." Tatsuki said as she looked over the contents of her bento. Her mother took a seat on the ground and smiled as she watched her daughter begin to eat, which Tatsuki noticed in between bites. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Not that I can see dear, why do you ask?"

"Because you're staring Mama."

"I'm just happy to know that you're feeling better is all." Her mother said with a smile.

Tatsuki stopped eating and looked at her mother puzzled, "I've been feeling fine all day Mama, why shouldn't I be now?"

"Well it's just that when you came home from that training session with your team you seemed a little annoyed Tatsuki-chan. I was a little worried that you weren't getting along with your teammates."

"I get along just fine with Shunsei and Saito-sensei." Tatsuki said and began to start eating again.

"But what about your new teammate," her mother stopped to think a minute, "what was his name again?"

At the vague mention of her new teammate Tatsuki started to eat quicker, seemingly inhaling her food. "Kazuma no baka you mean." She said in between bites.

Her mother merely smiled on and dismissed her daughter's negative view, "So then you don't get along with Kazuma-kun I take it."

"You've got that right," Tatsuki said with a sudden vigor, "Team 4 was just fine with the three of us. We don't need some toseinin coming in out of no where to disrupt things. Plus he's probably not even as good as…" The vigor she spoke with suddenly dropped from her voice as she realized what she was going to say next. Tatsuki stopped eating and placed her chopsticks down, a somewhat sad and painful expression adorning her face.

Her mother reached out and touched her hand, causing Tatsuki to look up at her. "I know it can be hard to lose a comrade that you have spent time with Tatsuki-chan, but you must learn to let them go so that you can move forward."

"I just can't get the image out of my head though Mama." Tatsuki said, and the image suddenly came to mind of how the other member of Team 4 had died. She quickly shook her head hoping that it would clear her mind.

"Tatsuki-chan don't think about the end, but think about the time when you were all together. That is the best way to honor his memory." Her mother's words worked a great deal better than shaking her head. Tatsuki nodded and picked her chopsticks back up.

"I still don't think that baka is a good addition though." Tatsuki said as she began to eat again.

Her mother simply laughed at her daughter's words, "I don't know Tatsuki-chan you may be in for a surprise." With that she rose and walked back toward their home, leaving Tatsuki sitting under the tree wondering.

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

Since the two had met Naruto and Kira had been arguing over anything and everything. Always making a racket about something Kazuma had quickly learned to tune them out, that is until they came to him to settle something. It was surprising however that after lunch when they were actually not making a sound, well Kira was purring as she lay over Kazuma's shoulder but that was beside the point. Kazuma took a guess that the two weren't talking to each other right now because they had gone to eat at a BBQ restaurant like Kira had wanted. Naruto as usual had wanted to eat ramen but despite his protests he had gladly woofed down piece after piece of beef that they roasted at their table.

_Even when it's not something he originally wanted he practically still ate the most._ Kazuma thought while glancing at Naruto walking beside him. If he kept eating this way Kazuma thought that he would have to take extra missions just to feed Naruto. A tug at his elbow brought Kazuma's attention back from his own thoughts.

"Nii-chan why are we going to see oji-chan again, you just talked to him yesterday." Naruto asked.

"I just have something I want to ask him real quick." Kazuma had decided to see the Hokage after something the old shop keeper had said to him when he was leaving.

_Flashback_

"A word of advice young swordsman." The old shop keep said before Kazuma joined Naruto and Kira outside, "be careful with how you relate yourself to that boy. Trouble seems to follow him in this village."

Kazuma looked out and saw Naruto saying something to Kira with a grin on his face, he turned back to the old man, "Just exactly why does trouble seem to follow him, I haven't seen any reason why it should."

"I am afraid that I am not allowed to say, all I can say is that the boy is looked down upon by the residents of this village and by association so could you."

"Why tell me this if you can't tell me the reason," Kazuma drew closer to the old man, seeming a little more intimidating, "do you have some problem with Naruto-kun like the rest?"

The old man laughed and shook his head, "I am a man who makes weapons meant to kill, so I have no hate for someone who is condemned because of his birth. If I did it would taint my work and lead me down a dark path." The old shop keep walked toward the back of his shop, he bowed to Kazuma before disappearing behind the curtain he had come from.

_End Flashback_

The old man had said he wasn't going to tell him anything, but he had let slip to Kazuma that Naruto was hated because of something having to do with his birth. Kazuma figured that the only one who could be of some help to him in this matter would be the Hokage himself. He felt for the kid sure but the driving question of why was Naruto being abused like this was why Kazuma seemed obsessed.

_I don't the reason behind this abuse, but I intend to find out one way or another._ Kazuma thought to himself. As they came into view of the Hokage Tower Kira suddenly tensed up on Kazuma's shoulder, her fur standing on end. "What's wrong Kira?" Kazuma asked when he noticed it himself.

"That burnt scent," Kira said, "I recognize it anywhere."

Kazuma could smell it now himself, the familiar and dreadful scent that belonged to only one person he knew. He turned toward the direction the scent was coming from and moved Naruto behind him. There at the end of the street was a boy dressed in black pants with red stripes going down the legs, a red coat that had only one sleeve which he wore over a grey shirt. Sitting on his shoulder was a bird with a fiery looking plumage that seemed to smolder in the sun. The boy began to walk toward them, a smile on his face showing off his teeth, Kazuma tensed as he drew closer to him.

"Well look who I've found," the boy said as he stopped close to them, "if it isn't Kazu." He ran his hand through his red hair, pushing back the yellow bangs that fell over his eyes, that smile never leaving his face. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

"I don't think it's been long enough, Hien-nii."


	4. Chapter 4

OK I know it's been a while since I've updated but here it is finally Chapter 4. For info on why it took so long and what I'm up to check out my profile page. We're going into the exam phase now so look forward to it. Also leave a review letting me know what you think, good or bad it doesn't really matter to me.

Now the disclaimer, Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. 

Chapter 4

The two brothers stared at each other, the boy Kazuma had called Hien seemed relaxed and amused at the situation; while Kazuma was alert, on guard as if an attack was coming. Naruto peeked his head out from behind Kazuma and wanting to start asking questions; like is this guy Kazuma's brother, what village is he from, what's with the bird on his shoulder, but the thick atmosphere between Kazuma and Hien seemed to suppress his willing urge to ask.

Hien's smile turned into a grin when he caught sight of Naruto peaking out at him. "So who's the boy Kazu?"

Naruto was about to answer but Kazuma moved his hand in front of Naruto, "Naruto-kun is letting me stay at his place while I'm staying in the village."

"Oh is that so," Hien's gaze shifted from Naruto to Kazuma and then back again, "then I should have to thank you for the hospitality you are showing my ototo."

"Ototo, then you're Kazuma-nii-chan's aniki?" Naruto finally got to ask.

Hien gave a small bow, "Hono no Hien nice to meet you Naruto-kun."

Naruto, remembering some of what the Hokage taught him about manners gave a little bow back. He was about to ask Hien more but apparently Hien's interest went back to Kazuma. "Strange but I thought you had an apartment in this village Kazu, or am I thinking of some place else?"

"Who can really say after all I come and go like the wind." Kazuma responded, he didn't want Hien catching on to his hideouts. "So what are you and Xing doing here?"

Hien stroked the bird sitting on his shoulder, "We are on our way to pay our respects to the Hokage for his hospitality."

"Gensai-sama asked us to do so since he will not be arriving until the final exam." Xing, the bird on Hien's should, said.

"So Gen-ji didn't bother to come, big surprise there." Kazuma said offhand.

Hien took a step toward his brother, the calm demeanor breaking on his face showing a hidden anger. "Gensai-jisama has more important matters to deal with running the village than having to come and watch what is already assured."

Kira leapt off Kazuma's shoulder as he shortened the distance again between himself and Hien, "And what exactly is assured Hien-nii?"

"That I will finish first in the exam Kazu, as if there was ever a doubt."

"Better be careful then that you don't go up against me at anytime then, it would be a blow to that huge ego of yours if I were to snuff you out." Kazuma grinned bearing his teeth as he spoke.

The calm face Hien had now completely shattered and now a rage filled him, "You pitiful little tosei-nin, do you really think that someone who ran away could better me?"

"I don't know lets find out." Kazuma said and gripped the handle of his sword. They were about to come to blows but before either could make the first move they leapt back to avoid a large object hurtling at them. The round disk shaped object crashed into the ground shaking the earth, Kazuma standing back with Naruto under his arm realized what had come at them.

"Jeez you two just can't get along when you see each other can you?" A girl said. She had short dark brown hair tied in a pony tail. She wore a tan trench coat with a hood, brown pants and white top that was stained with dirt. A black tortoise shell shaped objected was wrapped around her right arm and she hoisted the huge disk with her left and she had a hitaie just like Hien's, a circle with four sections. 

"So how have you been Kazu-kun?" the girl asked as the disk in her hand crumbled and turned into dirt.

Kazuma put Naruto back on the ground and managed to force a smile, "I've been fine Chisame-nee and it looks like your doing okay."

Chisame came up and wrapped Kazuma in a bone crushing hug; literally, popping noises could be heard mingled in with Kazuma's choking moans. A final squeeze and Kazuma was released, crumbling to the ground from the sisterly affection he had just received. Getting back onto his feet he quickly scanned the area, "So Aya-nee isn't with you?"

Chisame shook her head, "Nope the _hime_ decided to stay in her room and rest after our trip." 

"Great it's going to be a regular family reunion." Kazuma muttered to himself so that no one could hear. "Well I guess we'll be seeing more of each other during the exam so I guess I'll see you then." Kazuma said to both of his siblings.

"Leaving already neko-kun?" Hien said mockingly.

"I have things to do tori-chan; don't ruffle your feathers over seeing me go." Kazuma mocked back. "Later Chisa-nee." Kazuma took Naruto by the hand and made his escape from the little family gathering as quickly as possible.

"Hey Kazuma-nii-chan, were they really your nii-chan and nee-chan?" Naruto asked as they made their way back to the apartment.

"Yup and I'll tell you all about it when we get home."

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

Later after a quick dinner and bath Naruto was sitting on the couch in the apartment waiting anxiously for Kazuma to start his story about himself. Kira was dozing behind him on top of the couch and Kazuma was sitting in a chair across from him.

"So what should I talk about first?" Kazuma asked.

"Your village." Naruto said already on the edge of his seat grinning.

"My village huh, okay we'll start there." Kazuma said and began to talk about the village he was born in.

The Hidden Elements village is a small ninja village ruled over by one clan since its establishment. The village is protected on four sides by a mountain range to the north, a lake to the east, a scorching desert to the south, and a vast plain with high winds to the west. These four regions are maintained by a pact the founder of the village made with the beasts that guarded the site where the village is now.

The founder of the village was charged with protecting the area by the beasts and granted power to achieve this mission. This duty was passed on from each clan head to the next. To better protect the pact the leading clan began to train ninja, thus creating the Hidden Elements village.

"What kind of beasts give people power like that?" Naruto asked when Kazuma stopped.

"Ah their called the seijuu, each of them hold power over an element." Kazuma explained.

"So then the leader of your village must have beaten them in order to get their power right?"

"He could have but no one really knows all the details about why the pact was made. Only the current head of the village has access to that kind of knowledge, but everyone in the Elements knows the main part of the story."

Naruto sat wide eyed picturing a lone ninja fight off against giant monsters, it gave him the shakes just thinking about it; of course this lone ninja bore a striking resemblance to himself. "So what do you want to hear next Naruto?" Naruto left his imagination behind and turned his attention back to Kazuma.

"I wanna hear about your family."

Behind Naruto Kira opened her eyes and peered at her partner, family was a tough subject for Kazuma but he didn't seem to be putting out any showing signs of remorse. Kazuma himself was actually prepared for Naruto to ask so he went right into the story.

"Well to start off I have one older brother and two older sisters. You already met two of them this afternoon, Hien-nii and Chisame-nee were there names. The one you didn't meet is Ayame-nee, trust me you'll know it's her if you meet her."

"Why?"

"Because she'll completely act like a stuck up princess, even though she's a ninja." Kazuma described his sister and just the thought of her made him shake his head. "Anyway the rest of my family would include tou-san and kaa-san, Gensai-ji and my uncle Hayato." 

"Are they all going to come and see you take the exam?" Naruto asked hoping to meet the rest of Kazuma's family. To his dismay though Kazuma shook his head.

"The only one that will come that's not here yet is Gensai-ji."

"Why wouldn't your parents or uncle come, don't they want to see you?" Naruto asked a little more quietly than before, the thought of his own lack of family coming to mind.

Kazuma gave a small smile, "I'm sure they would want to but tou-san and Hayato-ojisan both died a long time ago and kaa-san can't leave the village because of her health." 

The bright atmosphere that had been at the start of the evening was slowly dimming. Naruto dropped his head feeling sorry that he had brought up such a sad subject. He was about to apologize but for some reason Kazuma started laughing. Naruto looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"Kazu-nii why are you laughing?" Naruto asked.

Kazuma controlled his outburst and answered, "Talking about Hayato reminded me about a time during my training. I was trying to learn a new move and instead of pushing the air forward like he had shown me I pulled it toward myself and went flying. We laughed a good long time about that."

"Then Hayato-ojisan was your sensei?" 

"I had a ninja sensei when I lived in the village," Kazuma began to explain, "but when I left to live my life as a Tosei-nin Hayato-ojisan became my shishou in Fuuchihoen-ryu."

"So he taught you all those cool moves?" Naruto asked getting a nod from Kazuma, "Can you tell me how you did them then?"

Kazuma laughed again, "I told you that you would have to figure it out Naruto, besides you were on the right track earlier."

Naruto scrunched up his face and sat back with his legs crossed on the couch, here he had thought that he could trick Kazuma into telling him since he had promised to tell Naruto things about himself. Since he couldn't pry more info about Kazuma's jutsu Naruto went back to the topic of Kazuma's past.

"Why did you leave your village and become a tosei-nin?"

Kazuma sat for a minute thinking of the best way to answer this question, because the answer was complicated. A few minutes of silence past and Kazuma finally answered, "I could tell you a few reasons why I left my village and wandered with my uncle, but if I had to sum it all up it would be because I like to live free."

Naruto tilted his head, confused by the answer, "What do you mean live free? Were you a prisoner when you were a kid?"

Kazuma shook his head smiling at the question, "No, nothing like that, I just like being able to go where I want and take on what jobs I feel like taking without having someone ordering me to. Do you understand Naruto?"

"Maybe a little." Naruto said, although he wasn't entirely sure what Kazuma meant by free. "Is it bad to be a ninja for your village?"

"Not at all, it's a great honor to be a shinobi for you village. Whether it's back in the Elements or here in Konoha anyone who wears their hitai is proud to serve their village."

"But if it's such a good thing then why don't you do it?"

"That I'm afraid would require a long story and for me to be in the right kind of mood to tell it." Kazuma said much to Naruto's obvious disappointment. "Still no matter what I love the village I was born in and the people there, because all of it is an important part of me. Now I think it's time for bed."

Naruto protested saying he wasn't tired, of course that was in between yawns. So Kazuma picked him up and put Naruto to bed and they both said good night.

"Night Kazu-nii."

"Good night Naruto."

As the lights went out and Naruto drifted off to sleep, a smile played across his face as he went to sleep feeling that he belonged.

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

The time before the exam flew by and Team Four spent as much of it as possible training together. From their first test against each other they worked on perfecting their team work and learning how to cooperate in combat to bolster their team strengths against their individual weaknesses. The day of the exam was also Naruto's first day at the Academy and he was on cloud nine when Kazuma told him that they all would be walking together since the first exam was taking place in the Academy building.

Tatsuki and Shunsei had grudgingly grown accustomed to Naruto, as he was present at each team training session. The Yamatori cousins knew what Naruto was so at first they avoided him, but as their time together went on they began to notice that the boy was just that; an ordinary four year old boy. Amazingly it was Shunsei who first approached Naruto during a break in their training, although it wasn't a great effort to bridge the gap; he merely asked if Naruto could fill their water canteens. Still Shunsei talking to anyone without being talked to first showed he was comfortable around them. His cousin on the other hand took to Naruto just as Kira had, they ceaselessly argued about little things that didn't really matter so it was hilarious to watch; especially when Kira involved herself as well. So it went on in that fashion until the day of the exam.

"So what exactly do you have to do for the exam Kazu-nii?" Naruto asked as he and Team Four walked to the Academy. Kazuma turned to his teammates looking to see if either had any input, but all he got was shaking heads.

"I don't really know a lot of what we're going to have to do Naruto, so I guess we'll just have to wing it." Kazuma's optimism didn't seem to be shared by the others as sweat drops slid down the back of their heads.

Moving along they reached the Academy building and moved through the crowd of gathering students running toward their classes. The Chunin exam was being held on the third floor so when it came time for them to go Naruto yelled wishing them luck as they left and ran off toward his class which was on the first. Kazuma watched as the energetic kid rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

"Think he'll be alright Kazu-nii?" Kira asked as she stretched on the ground.

"Yeah I'm sure Naruto will do just fine, besides how much trouble could he cause on his first day." Kazuma said and moved to follow his teammates. With the exam being on the third floor Kazuma was a little surprised to see a group trying to get into a room saying that they were here to take the exam. However the doorway was blocked by two kids shoving away anyone who tried to enter.

"You little punks think you can actually measure up to Chunin level, don't make me laugh." One of the boys blocking the door said after shoving another person to the ground.

"Heh if trash like you is applying then there shouldn't be any point to even having the test." The other boy said as he leaned in the door way. A girl stepped forward and protested saying that they had approval to take the test and what right did the two boys have at keeping them out.

"Right who cares about that we're doing this because we can, no one's stopping us so how's that for your right."

Team Four had stopped to watch this display, the group trying to get in seemed to be made up of younger Genins and the two boys seemed to be close to their own age. "Think we should help them?" Tatsuki asked looking to Shunsei and Kazuma.

Shunsei made no movement but Kazuma moved into the crowd and waved toward the two boys. "Hey are you two off today from watching the gates?" Kazuma yelled to the surprise of the boys who looked toward the approaching person. The cluster of Genins parted as Kazuma made his way through, looking at the stranger as if he were crazy. The two boys however seemed a little annoyed, stepping forward to meet Kazuma half way.

"What the hell are you talking about punk, we've never seen you before."

Kazuma stopped moving forward and just looked at the boys, "Oh I get it now, very tricky you two." Kazuma said loud enough for everyone to hear and then moved closer so that only the boys could hear, "Looking forward to seeing you later Proctor-san."

The two boys gave approving grins as Kazuma walked back feigning that he must have mistaken the two for someone else, the old trick of seeing what applicants could get to the exam continued as Team Four made their way to the third floor. As they walked up the stairs Tatsuki asked how Kazuma knew who the two boys were.

"The only things they did were use a henge and genjutsu," Kazuma grinned and pointed to his nose, "they didn't hide their scent at all." 

"I guess your good for something after all Kazuma," Tatsuki replied, "although it might be better if we had an inu-nin, after all their cuter."

"Funny." Kazuma said as Tatsuki and Kira laughed at the joke, Shunsei actually managed a smile. When they reached the door to the exam room their attitudes shifted and became serious, whatever waited behind those doors each of them was prepared to meet the challenge head on. 

Kazuma reached out and grabbed a handle and Shunsei grabbed the other, with his hand now unwrapped and back to normal, they pushed forward and walked into the room. The room was setup just like a lecture hall and all the rows were filled with Genins, some turning their heads to look at the new comers while others showed no interest at all. The atmosphere was heavy with tension as everyone seemed to be keeping to themselves. 

"Wow everyone looks so lively." Kazuma said and moved to take a seat. Tatsuki and Shunsei followed and took seats next to him. The trio scanned the room looking over their competition, Kira curled up under Kazuma's chair so she was just taking it easy. Kazuma easily found his siblings and checked to see who their teammates were, some he recognized while others seemed to be faces he had never seen before. The pair with Hien he definitely didn't know and that worried him since his brother alone was a hand full. After a few minutes the clock on the wall ticked past the starting time for the exam and a small explosion at the front of the room snapped everyone to attention.

"Everyone sit down and listen up!" A man wearing standard Konoha Jonin gear yelled and everyone did as ordered without hesitation. When the smoke cleared the Jonin stood in front of the other proctors, including Kaito and Toya in the regular appearances, "Eyes front kiddies, my name is Kaien and I'll be running the first test!" Kaien spoke with a confidence that matched the volume of his voice. "We're going to be sitting you in order in just a minute so when you hear your name get up and move!" and thus the sitting process began, soon everyone was seated and separated from their teammates and Kaien began speaking, or yelling, again. "This test will be a written one with ten questions!" He started writing on the black board at the front of the room as he talked. "There are going to be some rules and no questions, you don't like it then get the hell out I've got things to do after this and I hate waiting!"

A few people were moving to raise their hands but decided better against it when Kaien finished speaking. "Anyway getting on with your rules, each question is worth one point. To pass you need at least one point at the end. The test will be two hours and when there is half an hour left I'll be giving out the tenth question!" Someone made a move to raise their hand and without turning Kaien threw the chalk in his hand and hit the person in the bridge of his nose. "I said no questions, open your ears moron!" The person apologized and Kaien continued, "The final rules are these, get caught cheating and you lose two points, get caught three times and you fail! Also since you're taking this in teams you fail means that your team fails!" A burst of outrage erupted from some of the crowd, protesting the point of these rules. "Shut the hell up! Whining like brats isn't going to change anything! Start acting like the shinobi you're all supposed to be and take the damn test! Anyone that wants to quit can leave, save me some time if you did!" Kaien yelled and the room quieted.

The proctors left the stage and took their seats around the room, Kaien stayed where he was at the front of the room. "All right then when I say start turn over your papers and begin!" he looked to the clock, "Start!"

The sound of papers rustling filled the room as the Genins turned over their papers and began. Kazuma looked the test over carefully showing confidence in his ability to handle the immediate exam. Something his uncle always taught him was never to let them see you sweat and that was what he was doing, because in reality he was thinking, _I've never taken a written test before in my life._ Each question he looked over filled him with more dread, everything he learned he had learned in practice; he'd take simple missions with his uncle, training with his uncle and also on his own. Everything he had learned had been from first hand experience and what was being asked in these questions he had no idea how to suppose without being in the actual conditions.

A few rows away Tatsuki was feeling the something close to the same dread, mostly all of these questions were impossible for her to solve. Of course she knew that she would have no problem answering the cryptograph on the page, something like this was child's play to her. _So what gives with the other questions?_ She thought. _It would take some one of incredible intelligence to answer these with out the necessary experience of having been in these situations before._ This train of thought dogged her while she decrypted the cryptograph. Tatsuki wondered what Shunsei and Kazuma were doing and glanced out of the corner of her eye to look in each of their directions. Up a few rows from her she saw Kazuma sitting still just focusing on his paper, _he probably doesn't have any idea how to answer any of the questions_, and she thought and looked to her left searching for her cousin.

To her appearance Shunsei was simply staring out the window when Tatsuki saw him, but knowing her cousin so well she couldn't believe that he was daydreaming. Following his line of sight she saw what he was looking at, in the trees out the window a flock of small birds were nesting and looking intently into the room. Tatsuki couldn't believe it her cousin was using the birds outside to look around the room for him, Shunsei was cheating. For any member of the Yamatori clan understanding birds was an important part of their care, if they didn't understand what the bird in their care was trying to convey then the bird would suffer. It was similar with the Aburame and Inuzuka clans as well with their insects and dogs. 

Tatsuki listened in on the chirps and tweets understanding the information the birds were gathering for her cousin. She wondered why Shunsei was risking cheating, if one of the proctors watching them caught on then he would lose points for all of them. The birds had stopped communicating just as she finished the second question, a quick glance out the window again showed they were changing position. Waiting she glanced around the room and noticed that others had begun to cheat as well, of course the ones she saw were caught by the keen eyes of the proctors.

"Number 31 you fail." A proctor said out of no where, shocking everyone. Number 31, a girl from the Hidden Grass Village, protested and that's when Kaien appeared right in her face.

"You fail little girl now take your teammates and get the hell out of my exam hall!" he yelled in the Grass ninja's face causing her to sink to the floor completely intimidated. The angry scowl on Kaien's face however made her rise and run out of the room closely followed by her team. The spectacle over everyone in the room tried to refocus their attention on what they were doing.

Kazuma was sitting completely stiff in his chair, he knew what he had to do but there was a slight problem; he had no information gathering skills at all. Out in the field on a mission he could use his sense of smell or rely on Kira's senses to determine an enemy's position but fine point stuff like this was a huge weakness for him. _I can cut boulders in two, make wind sharp enough to cut steel but a little piece of paper stops me cold?_ If he wasn't surrounded by so many people Kazuma would have broke down in tears for how sad his situation was. His despair, however, was interrupted from a soft purring sound coming from under his chair. Oblivious to her partner's worry Kira was lazily catnapping right underneath him. _Naruto's definitely picking dinner tonight._ Kazuma thought and returned his concentration to his problem. 

As the test continued more people were eliminated and more became anxious for time to move forward, brining them to the tenth question and an end to their torment. With about ten minutes left until the tenth question was to be asked Kazuma had managed to come up with an answer to one of the questions, thanks to a job he did involving similar conditions. The last question was his last bet at passing so he sat tense enough to break in two, a situation mostly everyone in the room was feeling as the seconds ticked by.

"Alright then people time for me to give out question ten," Kaien began, "but before that I've got some other rules to lie down!" By now everyone had learned to not speak out of turn but that did not change the fact that the young ninjas were unhappy about this new addition. "Before any of you take this question you choose right now whether you want to take it or not!"

The forced silence imposed on the group broke, people were confused and in disbelief. Why did they have to choose to take the question at all after all that they had to go through just to get to this point. Kaien's voice boomed even louder silencing the remaining examinees. "I don't give a damn about whether you think this is fair or not! What I say goes so shut up and listen! If you want to take this last question then know now that if you do take it and you fail then you can never become Chunin, this will be the last time you ever take this exam!"

This time the room didn't explode in outrage, everyone sat in their seats in disbelief. If they failed then this would be the end of their progress through the ranks, could any of them stand a life of a Genin forever. Kazuma's purpose for taking the exam was not like everyone else's, the ranking system didn't mean much to tosei-nins, but he wasn't about to let his father's wishes go unfulfilled. He also had made a promise to Shunsei and Tatsuki that he would give his all for the team during this exam and in turn they promised the same. Resolute Team Four kept their hands down risking everything on the final question.

Those that didn't want to take the risk dropped out, those that did sat practically quaking in their seats waiting for the decisive moment. When it appeared that no one else would drop out Kaien checked with the other proctors, cleared his throat and said, "The first test of the Chunin Exam is over. Everyone here passes." 


	5. Chapter 5

Okay so here is the next chapter and I know my updating is spotty but things are kind of moving weirdly so I do what I can. Anyway please leave a review when you've finished, despite all the hits I'm getting I'm getting practically zero reviews. Come on people let me know what you think, ok rants over enjoy.

Naruto owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 5

"I'm sorry what did you just say sir?" Tatsuki sat in her seat a little stunned by the proctor's announcement, much like everyone else in the room.

Kaien scratched the back of his head and muttered something under his breath, "I hate repeating myself so if you didn't hear then ask someone else." He said, his voice still too loud for everyone's liking.

"Ok then how about an explanation as to why we pass?" Kazuma asked, relieved that the hell of a paper test was over.

Kaien looked exasperated, he didn't want to do this proctor thing in the first place but an order from the Hokage gave him really no choice in the matter. "Alright look if you quit here and didn't have trust in your teammates then there was no real reason why you could be trusted with the rank of chunin. After all if the commander doesn't trust those that are following him into battle then how can he lead effectively? Those that copped out didn't have the nerve so that makes them failures. There end of explanation! Now shut up about this crap."

"You're still an unruly guy Kaien." A man said as he appeared behind Kaien. Kaien looked back at the guy and seemed to scowl in true disgust.

"You're the next proctor I take it Soiichiro?"

The man, Soiichiro, grinned innocently at Kaien, "That's right aren't you just happy to see me?"

"Actually for once yeah I am, it means I can get the hell out of here." Kaien said and began to make his way to the door only to have Soiichiro grab him around the waist.

"Ah come on Kaien hang out for a minute we can talk like old times."

"Let go of me you damn brat." Kaien said as he struggled to get himself free of the uncomfortable situation. "I hated the old times just as much as I hate the new times, now let go."

The once tense room shifted quickly to uncertainty, the examinees weren't really sure what to make of this scene. One minute they were stressed to the breaking point the next they felt so relieved that some of them thought they were going to collapse and now some were about ready to face vault watching the two men in front of them bicker like a couple. The shared thought between all of them though was simple enough to read in their faces, "Don't get involved." Soiichiro noticed, perhaps for the first time, that he had an audience to his little display. He released one hand from Kaien and waved at the crowd, somehow still managing to hold Kaien in place.

"You're all dismissed for the day," Soiichiro said, "the next phase of the exam will be tomorrow morning at 06:00. Please come prepared for anything and report to Training ground 27. That's all."

The genin and other proctors were all too eager to retreat from the scene as quickly as possible; Soiichiro had just mentioned something about going to the hot springs. Team 4 regrouped outside of the classroom, each member looking just as relieved as the rest of the participants.

"Thank god that's over." Tatsuki said, stretching her arms to relieve the tension still in her body.

Kazuma was petting Kira behind her ears, "You can say that again, I thought I was going to lose it in there."

"I bet you panicked real good in there Kazuma." Tasuki teased her new teammate as they made their way out of the Academy building.

Kazuma tensed a little in his response, "Don't be ridiculous I've faced much worse than some little paper test."

"Yeah but you've never sweat like that facing those situations Kazu-nii." Kira purred from his shoulder. Kazuma made shushing noises at Kira, not wanting to let his teammates know how worried he had been during the test. Tatsuki and Kira were both laughing at him when Kazuma heard another person laugh behind him.

"Oh poor little Kazu couldn't handle the pressure of a simple test" Hien bumped into Kazuma's shoulder as he passed, "how pathetic."

Kazuma gritted his teeth and was about to show Hien just how pathetic he was by knocking him flat on his back but Shunsei put a hand on his shoulder. "Do not be worried about the remarks of others Kazuma."

Kazuma shook a little as the anger at his brother began to cool in him, Shunsei was right after all. _Plenty of time to knock the jerk flat on his back later in the exam._ "Thanks Shunsei-san, you're right."

Shunsei released his grip on Kazuma's shoulder and nodded, Team 4 separated at this point as the Yamatori cousins went on their way home Kazuma waited around for Naruto to finish his lessons for the day. The Academy grounds soon became very quiet as the examinees filtered away leaving only Kazuma and Kira left in the front yard. Not wanting to stand in the sun Kazuma leaned up against a tree enjoying the shade and cool breeze. Kira had taken to stretching out on one of the tree's branches as the two waited for the students to be dismissed for the day.

"How do you think he did on his first day Kazu-nii?" Kira asked, her tail swishing lazily just above Kazuma's head.

"I'm sure he did just fine," Kazuma answered, "after all Naruto is a very inquisitive kid."

Soon the empty yard was jostling with activity again as students began to run out the front doors. Kazuma watched the door looking for any sign of the spiky blonde hair that belonged to Naruto. When he finally managed to catch a glimpse of it he noticed that Naruto was being followed closely by a man with a scar across his nose, who looked none to happy with his young friend. Kazuma began to move through the crowd and could hear the man addressing Naruto as he got closer.

"I don't know what you were thinking Naruto, especially on your first day." The man's voice sounded irritated, but also at the same time there was some concern mixed into the tone.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei." Naruto mumbled. He glanced around the crowd and saw Kazuma making his way toward the two of them, Naruto fidgeted for a moment looking between his sensei and Kazuma.

"Excuse me but did Naruto do something wrong today?" Kazuma asked just reaching the two.

Iruka looked Kazuma over, his eyes narrowing as he noticed Kazuma's hitae. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask what your concern is about the matter first…" Iruka said trailing off at the end to prompt Kazuma to introduce himself.

"Kaze no Kazuma and for right now I'm Naruto's roommate I guess you could say. Now is there some problem?"

"Well Naruto here thought it would be funny to experiment with the smoke bomb chemicals today."

Kazuma looked at Naruto who was smiling sheepishly back at him. Kazuma turned back to Iruka, "Did he apologize for this little accident?"

"Well yes but still he had no business having those chemicals in the first place so I'm still trying to figure out why." The two looked back down at Naruto who was trying to keep himself inconspicuous, even though the topic of the discussion was himself.

"Well Naruto?" Kazuma asked.

Naruto kicked at the dirt, "I was just curious to see what would happen."

"Naruto that's no excuse to use something that is off limits." Iruka said with a stern authority, "But I can understand that you have a healthy curiosity." Iruka chuckled for a minute, "After all you did ask some good questions today."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow at that comment; his own curiosity peaked a little. "What sort of questions did he ask?"

"Some that was pretty advanced for a student during their first day." Iruka sounded a little proud as he told Kazuma how Naruto asked endless questions about chakra and its different properties and characteristics. Kazuma looked back to Naruto as Iruka continued, he was still smiling sheepishly but it looked like it was starting to twist more to his usual fox-like grin.

"Well I hope that the incident with the smoke not withstanding there aren't any other problems with Naruto?" Kazuma asked, watching carefully for Iruka's response, both verbally and physically.

Iruka shook his head and smiled down at his new student, "Besides that no problems just try to behave yourself better in class Naruto."

Naruto mock saluted, "Right Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka's smile seemed to grow just a little and Kazuma took notice, it seemed that there were at least some people in this village who didn't have misguided feelings toward Naruto. Excusing themselves Kazuma and Naruto left for home, Naruto filling Kazuma in on what his day was like and Kazuma told Naruto about his exam; Kira filled in the embarrassing parts that Kazuma failed to mention.

"So I figured out how you made the big tornadoes the other day Kazu-nii." Naruto said as they walked through the door of their apartment.

Kazuma sank into one of the living room chairs, "Well then tell me what you figured out."

"Do you promise to teach me something cool if I get it right?" Naruto asked leaning forward on the couch anxiously.

Kazuma played like he was serious considering it, amused at the imploring face Naruto was making. "Sure Naruto if you can get it right though."

Naruto pumped his little arm in victory, "Okay well I already know that you used chakra."

"Right but I already told you there was more to it."

"Right so I asked Iruka-sensei today if there were different kinds of chakra and he said that there were." Naruto watched Kazuma to see if he was on the right track as he talked. Kazuma nodded his head for him to go on, "So Iruka-sensei said that chakra could be turned into the elements. So I think that you made your chakra into wind chakra and made those big tornadoes."

Naruto looked more anxious than before when he finished his explanation. He watched as Kazuma sat back in his chair, did he get it right or was there still more to it; Naruto seemed to be bursting for an answer.

Kazuma grinned and nodded his head causing Naruto to launch himself off the couch and tackle Kazuma where he sat. Kazuma laughed as he ruffled Naruto's hair, "Not bad for only your first day at the Academy. I can see why Iruka-sensei was impressed with your questions."

"So does this mean you're going to teach me something now?" Naruto's blue eyes were practically pleading as they stared up at Kazuma.

Kazuma ruffled the kid's hair again, "I suppose I could teach you a little something right now."

Again Naruto launched himself into the air, this time putting himself on the floor practically hopping in front of Kazuma. Kazuma got up from his seat and walked over to the window. Pushing it open he looked outside and found what he was looking for, a tree calmly swaying in the wind. With a simple direction of wind chakra Kazuma cut two leaves from the tree and had them breeze right into the palm of his hand. Naruto watched in amazement as the leaves landed in Kazuma's open hand.

"Is that what you're going to teach me Kazu-nii?"

"Nope." Kazuma said and Naruto scrunched up his face, it would be so cool to make things float in the air to him. "I'm going to teach you how to draw out your wind chakra."

The scrunched up face of disappointment was quickly replaced with the face of excitement. If he was learning to draw out his wind chakra then that meant that he could probably learn to do all the stuff that Kazuma could. "So what do I do first Kazu-nii?"

Kazuma held one of the leaves between his fingers and gave the other to Naruto. "First you have to understand that wind chakra's purpose is to cut. Its nature is not easy to control at first so you're going to work on focusing it on a specific object. Hence the leaf here."

Naruto watched as the leaf between Kazuma's fingers split in half. "Just focus your chakra to cut the leaf and nothing else."

Naruto clasped his hands around the leaf as he tried to focus his chakra to cut the leaf. Kazuma watched as the boy concentrated on his task. _To be honest this would take him a while to learn, _Kazuma thought watching as Naruto's brow wrinkled in concentration, _but if he were to develop his wind affinity at such a young age it would greatly increase his potential as he gets older._

As the night went on Naruto continued to struggle with the task Kazuma had set for him, stopping only when Kazuma had dinner ready. When Kazuma said it was time for bed Naruto had still not managed to even make so much as a slight tear in his leaf. Kazuma reassured him that it would take even an experienced ninja some time to learn their element. As Naruto crawled into bed Kazuma told him that he would be gone early the next morning for the next exam and he didn't know when he would be back.

"That's okay Kazu-nii I can take care of myself while you're kicking butt." Naruto said.

Kazuma ruffled his hair, "I know you can kid, I just don't want you thinking I skipped out on you without a good-bye."

Naruto grinned, "Thanks Kazu-nii."

Leaving Naruto to sleep Kazuma went back into the other room, the proctor had told them to prepare themselves for tomorrow and Kazuma took anyone at their word when they told him to be prepared.

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

Training ground 27 towered before the gathered genin as they looked into its wild depths through the fence that encircled its perimeter. The Forest of Death as it had come to be called teemed with life that could be heard from where the examinees were waiting. As the time for the exam to start passed Soiichiro clapped his hands, gaining everyone's attention.

"Hi everybody and welcome to the second phase of the Chunin Exam." Soiichiro's cheery attitude made the gathered participants question what they would be doing. "Now I know you're all curious as to what this test will involve so allow me to explain." Soiichiro held up two scrolls, one white the other black, each having Earth and Heaven written on them. "These scrolls are you objective to qualify for a passing grade. In a minute I'm going to have you all sign a release waiver, when you turn the waiver in your team will presented with a map. This map will have the location of your two scrolls."

The genin paid raped attention to the details of their test, some felt that this would be a synch if all they had to do was traverse the forest and gather their scrolls. Soiichiro grinned a little wickedly as he read the genins' expressions. "Just to let you know you can only retrieve the scrolls if all three people in the team are there. The places where your scrolls are sealed can only be opened with a blood offering by each team member and that offering must be fresh." Soiichiro saw that this news disturbed some of the genin, he shook his head, and "The offering is no different than if you were using a summoning jutsu so don't be so put out. Now for the rules, teams are to acquire their scrolls with in four days. During those four days you are not allowed to leave the forest, doing so will result in your teams' disqualification. Passing requires that before the time limit your team must be at the tower in the center of the forest with one Earth scroll and one Heaven Scroll. Also you are not to look at the contents of your scrolls; doing so will also result in failure. Now that's every thing that I have to tell you so fill out your forms and come to the booth to get your maps. Good luck everybody." Soiichiro waved at the gathered group, who all turned from the overly cheery proctor to sign their forms.

"Sounds like this could be a little too easy." Tatsuki said as she finished signing her waiver.

"I don't think it will be that easy though." Kazuma said. "The only rules are don't leave the training area, don't look in the scrolls and be at the tower with an Earth and Heaven scroll in four days."

"Right so what's the problem?" Tatsuki wasn't seeing the point of Kazuma's explanation.

"Well simply put that means that means that other teams will try to eliminate their competition." Kazuma explained, "One kill the enemy, two destroy the enemies scrolls, three steal the scrolls and hoard them. Those are just some of the ideas off the top of my head after hearing the rules, plus there is every possibility that the area itself is deadly so we would have to rule that in as a factor."

Tatsuki felt shocked, not one of those possibilities even registered with her. Shunsei though nodded his head in agreement with Kazuma's assumptions. Teams four moved to the sign in booth and presented their forms. The map they were given showed their starting point and the locations of their scrolls, both of which were good distances from each other and their starting point. Map in hand they headed toward their starting gate.

"Do you really think some of the others would kill to pass this test?" Tatsuki was still mulling over Kazuma's earlier comments. "I mean I know that this is a big deal for everyone but to go so far as killing to pass, that just seems a little extreme."

"For some shinobi killing isn't that big of a deal," Kazuma said, "of course there are those psychos that go to the extreme and kill when there are other options." Kazuma changed his serious tone when he spoke again, "I didn't know you were such a kind soul Tatsuki-san."

Tatsuki's cheeks reddened slightly in embarrassment, "I'm just thinking out loud, okay. Besides you're the one that thought up the idea in the first place." Tatsuki rounded on Kazuma stopping him in his tracks. "Just so we have an understanding; we are not killing to pass this test. If need be we will fight but I will not stand by and watch you just kill someone to advance you're rank."

"And just so you know Tatsuki-san the thought occurred to me because it would occur to others. My nindo does not include senseless slaughter." Kazuma shoved passed Tatsuki, "Even if my hands are already stained with blood." He said so that only Kira, who was on his shoulder, could hear.

"You were a little rash there Tatsuki." Shunsei said as they watched Kazuma walk off ahead of them.

"Shunsei even though we've trained with him for a little while we still don't really know what kind of person he is."

"I have watched him closely since meeting him and he seems to be an honorable person." Shunsei put his hand on Tatsuki's shoulder, a reassuring gesture to his statement. "Kazuma has the trust of the Hokage we should have some faith in his judgment."

Tatsuki sighed, she knew that she was just being stubborn but she was still not happy with the empty spot on their team being filled by someone. "I take it you want me to apologize then?"

"It would be a good gesture." Shunsei said.

Tatsuki looked like she was considering it for a moment, "Well if I did then he would just make a joke out of it, so I'll just skip it." With that she moved pass her cousin and continued toward the starting point, Shunsei following shaking his head.

As the starting time for the exam grew closer the teams all waited anxiously at their starting points. Within minutes the gates would fly open and the second test would begin. Strategies were considered and supplies were checked until finally Soiichiro's voice carried to everyone.

"The second phase of the Chunin Selection Exam will begin now, good luck to everyone."

The gates opened and the genin rushed in, moving toward their respective goals. One team moved with purpose, a family reunion.


	6. Chapter 6

So been a while but I've been plugging away. Okay so first real fight kicks off here, hope you all enjoy I still need to work my fight scene writing muscles out. Here we go

Naruto is owned by Masashi Kisimoto.

Chapter 6

"So where exactly is our first scroll anyway?" Tatsuki asked as Team Four wove through the treetops. Kazuma, who was taking the lead, checked the map of their scroll locations. "The x marks that represented their scrolls were on completely different ends of the training ground, but the closest one would take them at least half a day to reach under normal circumstances."

"And if the circumstances aren't normal Kazuma?"

Kazuma dipped his hat as he launched himself off of a tree branch, "Then it will take longer because we'll have to either fight or run."

"Run! Who would we have to run from?" Tatsuki asked.

"You never know when you will meet a superior opponent Tatsuki, retreat is a viable option at times." Shunseii said, stating the most rational observation as usual.

Tatsuki seethed silently as they continued through the trees, not liking the idea of having to use retreat as an option for any situation. A quick glance back and Kazuma saw the look of frustration on Tatsuki's face. He took note that it was a look he had seen on her once before, when the topic of her old teammate came up.

"Well I'm sure that there aren't many participating that we have to be worried about." Kazuma said even though in the back of his mind he was aware of the fact that if they ran into any of his siblings he would have to separate from his team and deal with them himself. Kira shared the feeling, digging her claws a little into Kazuma's shoulder as a physical reminder.

Team Four stopped for a break halfway to their destination. A large tree provided them with shade and cover in the slightly open field where they had stopped. With it still being early in the day the dew dripped from the trees. A drop fell onto Kira's nose causing her to sneeze, the tiger cub wrinkled her nose and murmured a low growl up into the tree tops.

Kazuma grinned at his partner and rose to his feet, "I think we should be getting a move on."

"Sure, I'm ready to go." Tatsuki stretched her arms over head and leapt back into the air followed by Shunsei. Kazuma tipped his hat up and grinned again back up to the tree where the dew drop had fallen from, then he and Kira leapt up to follow their teammates.

A pair of blue eyes watched as Team Four moved away and soon enough three figures gave chase. The pursuers were patient enough to wait until their targets reached their scroll, then it would be a simple matter to them to eliminate their prey and move on to the next. Blue eyes especially was looking forward the coming confrontation, it had been so long for her since she had something of a challenge.

A shift in the wind and blue eyes held up her hand signaling to stop. The three pursuers had kept to a high position so that they looked down on Team Four. Now from their high vantage point they saw the three young shinobi quietly discussing something among themselves. Blue eyes wondered if they could have become aware of the fact that they were being followed. She quickly dismissed the idea, stealth was one of here specialties.

"Mistress." One of blue eyes' companions said in a low whisper. She turned and followed the cloaked figure's gaze down toward their quarry, something was off. Blue eyes quickly took in the surroundings, what was it that she had missed? Realization came to her quickly, quickly enough for her and her team to leap to safety.

A blade of wind spilt the branch they had been hiding on in half. Kazuma landed in view and held his blade at the ready. "You're slipping Aya-nee." Kazuma said to his sister Ayame.

Ayame stood straight in the open now, the other two ninja kneeling at her sides, Kazuma noticed her dazzling blue hair lay over her shoulder in a ponytail trying to cover the serpentine like accessory on her arm. His sister had not changed much in appearance since Kazuma had last seen her, despite her expertise in stealth she still wore a long sapphire blue one piece combat dress showing a rising dragon.

"So little Kazu-kun it seems that I still can't get around that nose of yours." Ayame's voice was childlike when she spoke, it had in the past a distorting affect on the view of lesser shinobi but Kazuma knew when she used it with him that it was merely a mocking gesture.

"You should watch that your little snake doesn't drip water when hiding you." Kazuma said.

"How rude calling me a snake you filthy boy!" the serpent like accessory on Ayame's arm unraveled slightly so that the head now rose off her body. "I am the child of Seiryuu, the elegant dragon Shinryuu."

"There, there Shin-chan Kazuma's just jealous that he only has a mangy kitten to keep him company." Ayame said as she stroked Shinryuu's head. The Kazuma that was still with Shunsei and Tatsuki disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Kira launched herself on top of Kazuma's hat, her fur on end hissing in Ayame's direction.

"Who are you calling a mangy kitten!"

Kazuma reached up and lifted Kira off his head, this was always the routine when he met with any of his siblings, "Well I'm sure we could continue this lovely conversation but I suggest that we press on with more important issues. Such as why are you following us?"

Ayame held her hand over her chest, a pained expression on her face, "Kazu-kun I'm hurt that you think I have an alteriour motive than just seeing my little brother."

Kazuma pointed his sword at Ayame "I'm not fool enough to believe that cute act you use so much Aya-nee. It's not a very smart move to take on your opponent in this test before they get at least one scroll."

"Oh Kazu-kun that's where you're wrong, you see taking out a team early on leaves just that many scrolls unattained so we can pick them up at our leisure later on." Ayame said.

Shunsei and Tatsuki had joined Kazuma while Ayame was talking. The worst possible situation had presented itself to Kazuma right from the start. There was no way to reason with Ayame on the manner of their inevitable battle, she would come at him with all her power and he would have to respond in kind.

"Sumimura, Yochiro take care of my brother's friends would you I do not wish for us to be disturbed." Ayame ordered the two at her side, a small figure covered in a dark cloak and a thin young man wearing clothes that hung off of him as if they were sails to catch the wind.

"Yes mistress." They said in unison before disappearing and reappearing right beside Shunsei and Tatsuki. The cloaked ninja and Tatsuki exchanged kunai strikes before Tatsuki leapt into the trees and out of sight, her opponent in hot pursuit. Shunsei dropped off the tree branch and pulled his opponent down with him, Kazuma catching a quick nod from the older Yamatori before he too disappeared from view.

"Well it seems like we are all alone now doesn't it Kazu-kun?" Ayame said.

Kazuma placed Kira on the branch and removed his hat and cloak, "It does and I should thank you for that, I didn't know how to get Tatsuki-san and Shunsei-san to leave this fight to me alone yet. You saved me the trouble of having to lie to them."

"Kazu-kun you really shouldn't hide secrets from you friends like that," Ayame said again in her innocent tone, "it will eat you up inside." Ayame began weaving through hand signs. "Water style: Water needle." The dew lingering on the trees moved and took form with Ayame's chakra and shot at Kazuma. Kazuma and Kira leapt forward, Kazuma batting the water needles away with his wind chakra coated sword.

"Fuuchihoen-ryu: Gale of blades." Kazuma's attack flew toward his sister. Ayame dropped of the tree branch she was on and jumped out of sight. Kazuma followed after her, with Kira on his shoulder again searching the wind for Ayame's scent. Kunai flew out of the trees forcing Kazuma to stop and deflect them. When the last kunai was batted aside Kazuma took his stance, "Fuuchihoen-ryu: Gale of blades." Again the wind blades flew from Kazuma's blade, slashing in all directions.

Ayame flew from her hiding place just before Kazuma's attack managed to rend her in half. "Water style: Exploding water dragon." The attack erupted from Ayame's mouth, the dragon of water exploded on Kazuma knocking him down. "Watch that landing Kazu-kun." Ayame yelled as she watched her little brother fall.

"Two steps." Kazuma said to Kira who leapt from him. Wind chakra pulled and concentrated to Kazuma's feet and then he was no longer falling. The brown cloak bellowed in the air as Kazuma flew in the air, Ayame watched her brother and weaved hand signs again.

"Water style: Raging torrent." Again water erupted from the blue haired girl's mouth, twisting in an condensed stream. Kazuma braced himself and leaped forward into the attack. His blade brought up ready to thrust Kazuma dove into the water, Ayamee laughing as her attack engulfed her brother.

"Fuuchihoen-ryu: Air gate" The raging waters exploded, Kazuma continuing at his sister and let loose again with another attack sending blades of air toward Ayamee. Ayamee dodged and feel to the ground, feeling the sharp pain in her shoulder where Kazuma's attack had managed to catch her. She put her hand to the pained shoulder and looked at the red blood that she drew from it, outrage engulfing her at the audacity of her little brother wounding her so.

Shiiryuu sensed his partners rage and wound his way around the wound, easing her pain and hoping to make her think clearly and not over react. The desired effect was not so as Ayamee weaved signs for a large attack, she slammed her hands to the ground "Water style: Erupting geysers." The water hidden beneath the ground surged upward at the command of Ayamee's chakra. It burst through the earth and shot upward to batter the still air borne Kazuma.

"Kazu-nii." Kira yelled as her view was obstructed by the raging water towers. Kazuma needed to get to the ground if he was to avoid major damage, diving head first into the last attack had left him more than just soaked. He had to expend a good deal of wind chakra along his blade to cut a path for himself and then perform Air Gate to disperse the attack. He would be limited to just one step with his mid-air shundo.

Kazuma flowed his wind chakra to his feet and felt the familiar sensation of traction in the air, he moved past the geyser aimed for him. The rising streams of water continued, Kazuma's path had him slipping through the geysers. A new geyser erupted and caught Kazuma in its path. He tumbled and turned as the raging waters pushed him higher into the air. His lungs burned as water forced its way down his throat and oxygen became denied to him.

The cascading waters ceased and Kazuma found himself falling toward the ground, no way to he could save himself. A quick jerk and tug on the back of his jacket though made him appreciate that he was not fighting alone. Kira dropped Kazuma on the ground and moved in between him and Ayamee, her fur standing on end as she stood in defense of her partner.

"Thanks for the help Kira." Kazuma shaking got to his feet, using his sword to support some of his weight.

"You should have just drawn **your **sword Kazu-nii, then this would have been over." Kira said, not taking her eyes off their opponents.

Kazuma pulled his sword from the ground and sheathed it on his back, he took a few deep breaths and started feeling more stable. "My sword is for real fights Kira not these little sibling spats."

"Oh don't I warrant a real fight Kazu-chan?" Ayamee had obviously heard Kazuma.

"These fights of ours Aya-nee don't require the intent that my sword needs to meet out."

"Well then maybe I can force that intent out." Ayamee brought her hands together to weave her hand signs, the initial sign caught Kazuma's attention.

"You wouldn't go that far." Kazuma tensed himself, readying for what Ayamee was preparing to do.

"Oh I would, especially when it's just the four of us here. Shiiryu." Shiiryu wound his way around Ayamee as she weaved her signs.

Kazuma cursed under his breath, the technique that Ayamee was about to perform would force his hand. "Kira get ready we're going too." Kazuma began weaving the same signs as his sister, Kira jumping on his back. The technique the two siblings were about to perform is unique to them alone. Their chakras swirled and built around them as they weaved. They both reached the final seal together, "Saint Beast style: Combo Transformation."

Chakra engulfed Kazuma and Ayamee along with their partners and kicked up smoke, hiding them from view. The wind blew and the smoke began to clear away, the two siblings stood alone in the woods. Ayamee leaned forward, flexing her sapphire talons into the ground eager to strike. Kazuma brought his claws up ready to attack. Each transformation had succeeded and the talons of the water dragon and claws of the wind tiger were prepared to reap.


End file.
